Dust in the Wind
by supernaturaldarkangel252018
Summary: Sam, Dean, and Alec go back to Seattle to take Max on her first hunt. Part of the Family series.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! This is the next story in the Family series. I think it'll make sense without reading the others, but I'm not really the best judge on that one. Either way, you should read the others :) Anyway, thanks to ArtistKurai for the movie marathon idea. I hope you all like it and enjoy the story! (Oh and in this story I have it where Alec doesn't really know anything about the movies they're going to watch, just a head's up)_

* * *

Dean walked into their motel room with a box full of movies. Sam's leg was completely healed and they were slowly making their way back to Seattle. It'd been about a month since their last hunt, but Sam was just now getting back into his normal routine.

They weren't too far from Seattle, but Dean wanted one more night for the three of them to just be brothers. He had brought some movies for them to watch and whether Alec had seen them or not, they were going to have a movie marathon.

Sam was sitting at the little table in the room, looking for a hunt near Seattle so they could introduce Max to hunting. She hadn't believed them when they told her, but she'd sort of come around since then. She at least wanted them to prove to her that ghosts were real, so that was a good start. Sam glanced up when Dean walked in, but he went right back to typing after just a moment.

Alec was curled up on the sofa taking a nap. There wasn't much to do in the motel room and he and Alec had already cleaned all of the guns. Alec had been napping more, especially since his nightmares had started to take a break. It was like he wasn't afraid anymore of going to sleep so he was trying to catch up on all that he'd missed.

He still had nightmares occasionally, but they didn't happen every night, which Dean was grateful for. He didn't really know why they had slowed down, but he wasn't going to question it. As long as his little brother was getting sleep then he was happy.

But now wasn't a good time for a nap; they had 6 movies to watch and they were only going to have food and bathroom breaks in between the movies. Alec wasn't going to be allowed to sleep during any of them either. He had a bad habit when they were all watching TV, of just leaning over and falling asleep against whoever was in the middle. If he was in the middle then it was no telling who he would fall asleep against.

But it was weird though, because Alec could watch TV for hours without falling asleep. But as soon as Sam or Dean sat next to him to watch TV, he would fall asleep. Dean had no idea why he did that, but someday he would figure it out. He had a guess; he thought maybe since Alec's childhood had been devoid of any comfort, he was making up for it now and didn't want to be too obvious about it, but that was just a guess.

"Alec!" Dean called out. His little brother startled awake. He sat up and looked around the room for any possible threats, but Dean couldn't help laughing at his hair sticking up on one side.

Once he saw that there was no threat, Alec glared back at Dean and growled, "What?"

"You're so grouchy when you just wake up," Dean said in amusement.

"Look who's talking," Sam said from over at the table.

"I'm not grouchy when I wake up," Dean argued. Sam and Alec shared a look and then Alec shot him a smirk.

"Is it time for dinner?" Alec asked after a minute.

"No," Dean replied with a frown.

"Then why did you wake me up?!" Alec asked in disbelief.

Dean smiled and then said, "4 words little brother, Star Wars movie marathon." Sam chuckled, but Alec just looked back at him blankly. "Please tell me you've heard of Star Wars," Dean said after a moment of silence.

"I've heard the name before I think…" Alec said slowly. "Or maybe that was Star Trek…Is that one of them too?"

"It's a different series," Dean started, and then changed directions, "But it doesn't matter. We're going to watch all 6 of them right now. And you're not allowed to nap at all."

Sam chuckled again, and then walked over to Dean. He looked in the box, and then pulled out the first one: The Phantom Menace. Dean instantly grabbed Sam's hand to stop him. "Sam…" Dean growled in warning.

"If he's watching Star War for the first time, he needs to start with the first one," Sam argued.

Alec got up and got a bag of popcorn off of the counter and grumbled, "Great, you guys are talking like I'm not even here again. I just love that…"

"Noooo," Dean drew out. "He needs to see them in the order they were released." Dean reached into the box and pulled out the fourth one: A New Hope.

"These should be watched in order," Sam said.

"They should be watched in the order they were released," Dean shot back.

"Why would they number them 1, 2, and 3 if you weren't supposed to start with the first one?" Sam asked with a pointed look.

"If they wanted you to start with 1, 2, and 3, then they should have released them first," Dean replied.

"Dean, we've had this argument before-"

"I know. And you're still wrong."

"I am not!"

Alec put the popcorn in the bowl, and then walked over to Sam and Dean. He threw a piece of popcorn at Sam and it hit him on the nose. He glared at Alec, but Alec just laughed; his mouth full of popcorn.

"Yes you are. And besides, I'm the oldest so we're doing it the way I want to," Dean said. He pulled the movie out of Sam's hand and dropped it back in the box. He gave Sam a smug smile, and then looked over at Alec and opened his mouth. Alec threw a piece of popcorn up and Dean caught it.

"Besides," Dean continued, "Leia is hot. Even with that weird hair thing she's got goin' on…" He made a swirly motion next to his head to indicate the buns that she worse. Alec laughed at his description and Dean glanced over at him with a smile.

He brought his movie over to the player and put it in while Sam and Alec went to sit on the sofa. Alec sat in the middle and he looked a little excited to see Star Wars. Sam looked like he was pouting, but Dean knew he would get over it once the movies started. They both loved Star Wars and Dean couldn't wait to introduce Alec to it.

"And, Harrison Ford is a badass," Dean said before he started the movie.

* * *

Alec was excited to see Star Wars. He didn't actually care what they watched, but Sam and Dean seemed to like it. He watched the movie, but he also watched Sam and Dean's reactions. They were both paying strict attention to the TV, more than he had ever seen from them before.

Sam was kind of mouthing the lines along with the movie, but he didn't notice Alec watching him. Alec grabbed a piece of popcorn and threw it in Sam's hair, but Sam didn't even notice. Dean suddenly hit his leg and motioned for him to watch the movie. Alec rolled his eyes and left Sam alone.

Alec waited a few more minutes, and then turned his attention to Dean. His older brother was acting more like Alec himself though. He was splitting his attention between Alec and the TV to make sure he was reacting the way he was supposed to. It was kind of funny to see him reacting like this.

Dean's eyebrows rose when he saw Alec looking at him, and then he looked to the TV, pointedly telling Alec to watch the movie. Alec threw a piece of popcorn at him and he easily caught it in his mouth. Alec looked back to the TV and watched as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo tried to free the princess.

Sam and Dean both laughed at the same parts and it was still entertaining to watch them watch the movie. He could tell that it was very important to them that he like the movie and he really did, but he liked seeing his brothers' reactions more.

Dean suddenly reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn. He glanced over at Alec, and then threw a piece into Sam's hair. Alec almost snorted out a laugh, but he managed to hold it in until Sam looked his way. Sam looked at him in confusion, but Alec just shrugged back and looked at the TV again.

The first movie ended and Dean immediately started the next one. Alec decided that Dean was just like Han Solo and Sam was like Luke Skywalker. Han looked out for Luke even though he tried to hide the fact that he cared so much. Also, Alec was pretty sure Han Solo was Dean's favorite since Dean was excited every time Han Solo came on screen. He'd have to find a good way to tease him about that later.

They watched all 6 movies with 3 bathroom breaks and 1 break for pizza. As soon as the credits rolled for the last movie, Sam and Dean both turned to him expectantly.

Alec shrugged and played off, "It was fine I guess…"

Sam and Dean both jumped to their feet in outrage, knocking the little table over that was in front of them. They immediately started defending the movies and questioning his sanity. Alec just watched them both until they started arguing about which movie was the best one. Alec let them argue for a few minutes, and then finally stood up between them.

"I was joking," Alec said with a smirk. "I loved it!"

"I knew it!" Dean exclaimed with a victorious smile. Dean ruffled his hair, and then immediately engaged him in a pretend lightsaber fight. Sam watched in amusement for a while as they ran around the little motel room pretending to battle, including the sound effects.

"You don't know the power of the Dark Side!" Dean said, imitating Darth Vader.

"I'll never join you!" Alec replied, easily quoting the movie even though he'd just watched it for the first time.

Alec dropped to the floor and tried to back away from Dean, but Dean kept moving forward. "Alec, I am you brother!"

"Noooooo!" Alec cried out.

Dean start to bring down his pretend lightsaber, but Sam suddenly let out a perfect imitation of Chewbacca and joined the fight. They messed around for a few hours before they collapsed against the sofa again, breathless from their fake fight and from laughing. Alec couldn't remember having so much fun in his entire life.

"We should hit the hay," Dean said after a while. "We'll head to Freak Valley tomorrow, and then after that we'll take Max on her first hunt."

"What are we going to hunt?" Alec asked.

"I think I found something that'll work," Sam said. "It's a spirit so it should be pretty simple."

"That's what you said about my first hunt," Alec muttered. He really wanted an easy one for Max, just to get her started.

"This time it really will be easy," Sam tried to reassure.

"Piece of cake," Dean threw in.

"But," Sam drew out, shooting a look over to Dean, "You're not actually going with us on this one…"

"What?!" Alec couldn't help exclaiming, jumping to his feet and glaring at his brothers.

"Alec, calm down," Dean tried to placate, slowly getting to his feet, but Alec wasn't having it. Sam stood too so he could stand firm with Dean. Alec hated it when they teamed up against him.

"You're benching me for a simple hunt! You're taking someone who doesn't even believe you and not me because…"

"We don't want you or Max to be distracted during this. It's still a job that needs to get done, but we don't want either of you to get hurt," Dean tried to explain.

"So I have to be stuck by myself while you guys get to have fun," Alec said with a pout. He didn't want to stay behind while there was a hunt. He loved hunting and being suck alone while his brothers were hunting was going to be the worst thing he could imagine.

"I told you we should wait to tell him about this," Dean grumbled to Sam.

"If I can't go…then neither can Sam," Alec stated firmly. Sam and Dean both looked at him in confusion. "You just broke your leg!"

"It's healed now," Sam argued.

"It's probably still tender," Alec shot back. "So, if I can't go, then neither can you."

"You're going to stick me with Max?!" Dean questioned. "That's probably not a good idea."

"Or, we could all just go together…" Alec muttered.

"Not happening," Sam and Dean said at the same time. Alec huffed and turned away from both of them.

"Alec," Dean called after him. Alec reluctantly stopped and turned back to face his older brother. "C'mon, you have to know that this is the best way to do this. If you go with us, then you're just going to be worried about Max and looking out for her. You won't pay attention to what's going on around you and you'll get hurt."

"I'll stay behind as long as one of you has to stay behind too," Alec replied stubbornly.

Dean shot a look over to Sam, and Alec figured they were about to cave in. He would at least get his way with one part, and even though it still sucked, it would have to do.

"Fine," Dean finally said. "One of us will stay behind."

Alec just nodded, and then brushed past them to lie across the sofa. He would usually just share with Sam or Dean since there were only two beds, but he was still mad about getting benched. He started to drift off even though he knew Sam and Dean were still doing their silent conversation thing. He was almost completely asleep when he felt a blanket get draped over him.

* * *

Sam knew he would be the one who got benched. Dean would never pass up a hunt and even though he would want Sam there too, he would want to keep him safe more. Benching him meant that he and Alec would be safe and Sam's leg wouldn't be in danger of fracturing again.

Sam and Dean had decided a few days ago that Alec shouldn't go on the hunt with them. They knew that he would be mad; he loved hunting as much as Dean did and he would hate getting left out. But Sam knew it would be better if he didn't go with them this time. It would be safer for all of them.

Alec was mad at them though. He was giving them the silent treatment and he'd actually slept on the sofa for the entire night. He hadn't slept for an entire night on a sofa for a long time. Now, he was sitting in the backseat, glaring out the window.

Dean had tried to make it up to him by getting him some doughnuts for breakfast, but Alec had only mumbled his thanks before dropping back into silence.

They were almost to Freak Valley now, the new camp Max had set up, but Alec's spirits still hadn't lifted. Sam had thought he would be happy to see Max again, but if he was, he didn't show it. Sam should have listened to Dean and just told Alec later, but he didn't like keeping things from Alec.

Dean slowed down as they got to the fence into Freak Valley. The back door suddenly opened and Alec hopped out. Sam sighed as Alec closed the door, and then jumped over the fence.

"I guess I should have listened to you," Sam muttered as they watched Alec go to the rundown house of Command.

Dean shook his head as he rolled into the garage. "I'll find a way to make it up to him…"

"Dean, he'll probably be fine once the hunt's over."

"I'll still find a way to make it up to him," Dean replied with determination.

Sam sighed; he was stuck with two stubborn brothers. He really shouldn't be surprised, but he still didn't know how to change it.

"C'mon, let's go see what he's getting up to," Dean said after a moment. Sam followed his older brother to Command where he would hopefully find his little brother.

Alec was surrounded by transgenics when they walked into Command. He'd slapped on a smile and he was greeting everyone like nothing was wrong. People clapped his shoulders and everyone crowded around to find out what he'd been up to.

"I see you've brought the bane of my existence back," Mole suddenly grumbled to Dean.

"It's good to see you too Mole," Dean replied with a wide smile.

"Don't give me that smile, Winchester, I'm not happy to see you either," Mole said.

"Oh, c'mon Mole, you know you can't wait to lose some more money to me," Dean said happily.

"Just wait," Mole said, pointing at Dean. "I've been practicing."

"Please tell me you haven't been takin' money from the kids," Dean said, rolling his eyes.

Sam started walking around the room as Dean and Mole fell into their easy banter. Sam was halfway across the room when he was caught up in a crushing hug from Joshua.

"Alec and his family are back," Joshua said happily.

"'S good to see you too, Joshua," Sam managed to reply.

Joshua put him down after a moment, and then turned and looked to the doorway. Sam looked too and it seemed like the entire room stopped to see who was coming in. Max walked through the doorway and she quickly scanned the room. Her face broke into a smile as Alec stepped forward.

She ran forward and Alec picked her up when she got to him. He looked genuinely happy now that Max was with him and he slowly put her back down. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist as she pulled him in for a deep kiss.

The entire room erupted in cheers and Sam could see Alec smile into the kiss.

"Get a room!" Mole finally growled out when their kiss had gone on for just a little too long.

The two broke apart; Max looking a little sheepish and Alec sporting a cocky smile wide enough to easily rival Dean's.

"He gets that from me," Dean suddenly said next to Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes and pushed Dean just a little. Dean laughed and lightly pushed Sam back before he started to make his way over to Alec and Max.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	2. Chapter 2

_Happy New Year everyone!_

 _This chapter definitely wasn't planned, but I hope you all like it!_

 _Warning: Some sexual content_

* * *

"We'll meet you back at the house, ok?" Dean said as he and Sam started for the door. They had been in Command for the past few hours catching up with everyone. All the transgenics were extremely curious about what they'd been up to for the past few months, but they kept trying to dodge the question, which only made them more curious.

Alec gave his brothers a small smile and nodded. He was still mad at both of them, but he had a plan that would hopefully change their decision. Dean ruffled his hair and Sam clapped him on the shoulder before they both turned to leave.

Alec stood there for a moment, but then someone suddenly grabbed his wrist and started dragging him toward the back office. He smiled when he realized it was Max pulling him along. She pulled him into the office, and the quickly closed the door behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Max pushed him against the wall and lunged forward. Alec met her halfway and crushed his lips to hers. They weren't gentle with each other; they practically attacked each other with their desire to be together.

Max frantically got his jacket off of him and pulled his shirt over his head, but his arm got caught in their haste and he had to waste time getting untangled. He finally got his shirt off, and then threw it in the corner. He was a little more graceful getting Max's shirt off of her, and then he quickly picked her up so she could wrap her legs around him. She ran her hands through his hair and leaned down a little to kiss his neck.

"Shouldn't we take this somewhere a little more private?" Alec asked, slightly breathless. Max was driving him nuts, lightly biting his skin, and then kissing him tenderly where she had just bitten him.

"You really want to stop now?" Max asked in amusement. Alec just kissed her in reply and Max laughed. "I didn't think so."

Alec held her with one arm and went over to the desk. He quickly swept off all of the papers on the desk and they fell to the floor. Alec lay Max against the cleared desk and followed her down so he was on top of her. Max pushed him back though, and glared at him.

"What?" Alec growled.

"Those were important," Max replied.

"Then they should've been taken care of sooner," Alec shot back. "And it's not like I threw them away…they're just on the floor…" Max opened her mouth to argue more, but Alec took the opportunity to stop their argument and get them back on track.

Max pushed him off of her though, but she used more strength than he was expecting. He wasn't prepared to be thrown completely off of her, but he managed to land on his feet. The only problem was that he landed on a pile of loose papers and immediately slipped when his feet hit them, and fell on his ass.

Max looked at him from on top of the desk. She tried for a second to stop her smile from forming, but then quickly gave up and burst out laughing. "You should see your face right now!" Max said between laughs.

Alec started to stand up, but slipped again, making Max laugh even harder. He glared at her and she quickly put her hands up in surrender. "It's not my fault you tossed all of my papers on the floor," Max said, still laughing.

"Are you going to get down here or not?" Alec asked with a scowl.

Max pouted a little, "But you already cleared off the desk…"

Alec grumbled as he got back to his feet. Since he was up, he kicked off his boots and unbuttoned his jeans. Max was still laughing a little, but she was getting out of her own pants as she sat on top of the desk. He was still a little grumpy from getting laughed at, but Max's sexy smile was easily making him forget about it.

He slowly climbed up on top of her and lowered himself down to press against her. He sealed his lips to hers and slid his hands beneath her to unhook her bra. She took her arms out of the straps and discarded the garment like it was nothing, and then tangled her fingers in his hair.

He moved his lips from hers and went to her collarbone. He kissed, and then lightly bit her delicate skin and she rose up beneath him. Her soft skin brushed against him; his skin felt like it was on fire everywhere she touched. He smiled against her and she placed her hand on the back of his head to keep him there.

"Did you lock the door?" Max suddenly asked breathlessly.

"No," Alec replied, refusing to remove his lips from her.

"Alec," Max groaned. He trailed kisses further down, making her squirm. She pushed him back though and he growled low in his throat at being interrupted. "We can't do this if the door's unlocked. Anyone could walk in here," Max said impatiently, her tone clearly saying that he needed to fix this.

"Don't you think they know what we're doing in here?" Alec asked incredulously. "They can hear us!"

"Just go lock the door," Max said with a stern look.

Alec groaned, but then pushed off of the desk and walked to the door. He made a big show of turning the lock, and then he looked at Max, "Happy now?"

Max gave him a slow smile and said, "Almost…Take off the boxers and get over here."

Alec smirked, "Always so bossy…" But then he shed his boxers and went back to Max. She was already wiggling out of her underwear and she smiled at him in invitation.

Alec started to get back on top of her, but she suddenly sat up and pressed her hand against his chest to stop him. "We're forgetting something," Max muttered. She ignored his sigh and reached over to the desk to get something out of the drawer.

"You sure know how to kill the mood," Alec mumbled in aggravation.

Max sat up again, and then threw something in his face. He caught it, and then glared at Max when he realized it was a condom. "Really?"

"Protection is important," Max said with a smirk. He rolled his eyes and quickly ripped open the little package. "Hurry up," Max said after a moment, biting her lip since she was impatient.

Alec glared at her again, "I'm going as fast as I can. You want the protection or not?" She just glared back and let him finish. He pushed her back once he was done and locked their lips together. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him even closer.

He spread kissed across her neck as they rocked on top of the desk. The desk creaked and groaned under their weight and shook with their movement. Max suddenly dug her fingernails into the skin of his shoulders, making him bite her a little harder than he meant to.

"Sorry…" They both muttered at the same time, but they didn't stop.

He kept his movements slow, but Max kept trying to speed them up. Every time she tried that, he would pull away from her and make her wait until she gave him control again. He wanted this to last as long as he could; he missed Max and being with her was like heaven and he never wanted it to end. The only thing that sped him up was the fact that they could do this again.

Alec was getting close and he knew Max was already almost there. She gasped suddenly and Alec couldn't stop his smile as he pushed her over the edge. He sped up a little bit and she clung to him as he reached his limit. Just as he finished, there was a loud crack and both of their eyes widened as the desk collapsed beneath them.

Max clung to him as they were dropped to the floor and dust rose up around them and broken wood fell. They were both breathless, but Alec looked around them and chuckled at the turn of events.

"I guess I'll have to get you a new desk," Alec said in amusement.

Max laughed and playfully pushed at him. He rolled off of her, but she followed and ended up lying partially on his chest. She kissed his shoulder and he held her as they caught their breath.

"I missed you," Max said after a moment.

"I miss you too."

There was a sudden, loud knock at the door that made both of them jump, and then Mole growled, "I'm not comin' in there 'cause I don't wanna see any of that, but some of them are worried because they heard something break…"

"Everything's fine," Max yelled back.

"More than fine," Alec tacked on with a grin. Max pushed him a little harder for that one.

"I have also been told to pass along that if you're going again, you need to go find a different room," Mole said. He didn't wait around for their answer as they heard him immediately walk away.

"I was wrong," Alec said after a moment.

"About what?" Max asked in confusion.

"You didn't kill the mood…Mole did," Alec said with a laugh. He got up after he said that and started looking for some of their clothes. He was having some trouble finding all of their clothes since the room was destroyed, but he managed to find some things.

He pulled his boxers back on, and then tossed one of their shirts to Max. He didn't care whose it was, he just needed her to cover up with something before he started round two whether Mole liked it or not. Max pulled on the shirt, which turned out was actually his black t-shirt and covered her completely. He couldn't deny though, that he liked seeing his shirt on her; she looked really good in it even though it was way too big for her.

Alec went over and helped her up. He decided to just pick her up though so he could carry her over the wreckage of the desk. She rolled her eyes at him, but she let him take her over to the sofa and set her down while he went looking for more of their clothes.

"I actually do need to talk to you about something…" Alec said as he shifted some of the desk to the side.

"What?" Max asked curiously. She sat up on her knees and watched him closely as he walked around the room.

"About what we're going to be doing soon…" Alec said cryptically. He knew the others could hear what they were saying and he didn't want to let them know too much about hunting. Max was going to have the final say in whether the transgenics were going to become part of the hunter community or not and he didn't want to give anything away.

Max sat up a little bit more and raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

"My brothers don't want me to go," Alec stated.

"What?!" Max exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Alec tried to motion for her to calm down, but she wasn't having it. "I'm not going if you're not!"

"That kinda defeats the purpose of this whole thing," Alec muttered in amusement. He turned to keep looking for their clothes and to hide his smirk; this was working just how he wanted it to. He needed Max's help if he wanted to be part of this hunt and she was reacting perfectly so far.

Alec found his jeans and pulled them on as Max stomped over to him. She grabbed his arm and his eyes widened as he realized she was dragging him to the door.

"Max! What are you doing?!" Alec said, pulling Max to a stop.

"We're going to have a little chat with your brothers," Max growled.

"How about we put on some more clothes before we going stomping through Command?" Alec lightly suggested, but Max just pulled harder on his arm and forced him along.

Alec smiled sheepishly at the transgenics they passed who looked at them in amusement. He let her drag him down the deserted street to the house that he and his brothers had stayed in last time. She didn't bother knocking as she barged into the house.

Sam and Dean both looked up in surprise and Max forced Alec inside the door. Dean smirked when he noticed their attire and sent Alec a congratulatory nod. Alec smirked back and Sam shook his head in amusement at the two of them.

"Hey Maxie," Dean greeted, easily using Alec's nickname for her. He looked at her for a moment, and then frowned, "Y'know, I would've thought you'd be a little happier considering…but maybe Alec's not as good as he goes on about."

"Hey!" Alec immediately protested and Dean laughed.

Max ignored them and practically growled, "Why isn't he going with us?"

Dean looked up at the ceiling like he was already done with this conversation, and then shot a glare over at Alec. "You told on us?"

Alec just shrugged back and smirked in defiance.

"I would have found out anyway!" Max yelled. Alec was so glad he wasn't on the receiving end of Max's rage for once. It was kinda nice not being her target and getting to see the other side of things.

"Max," Sam said in his placating tone.

"Don't you 'Max' me," she said, turning her anger onto Sam. "I know how you and Dean go about this. Dean is brash and says whatever he wants, and then you come in to try and smooth things over and easily get them to calm down and open up. It's not going to work on me."

"We just think it's best because we don't want you two to be distracted, and then one of you will get hurt," Sam replied softly.

"Besides, Alec agreed to it as long as Sam sat out too," Dean said, shooting a smirk over at Alec.

Max turned on him and Alec looked over her head to glare at his older brother. "Thanks for throwing me under the bus…"

"That's what you get for being a tattle tale," Dean replied.

"You're going to stick me with Dean! Alone! That's a terrible idea!" Max practically shouted in his face.

"I told you so you could change their minds!" Alec shouted back. "Not to get in my face and yell at me!"

"Do they not understand how we were raised?" Max asked, quickly turning back to Sam and Dean. "There's no possible way we could get distracted on a mission. You get the job done or you die." Max looked around at all of them, but Alec just looked over to Sam and Dean to see if they were going to change their minds or not. "If Alec doesn't go, I don't go."

"Then this whole this is pointless," Dean said, almost repeating what Alec had said earlier. "We found this hunt so we could prove to you that ghosts are real. If you don't go then this is stupid."

"Then Alec needs to go with us," Max stated, crossing her arms over her chest and staring Dean down. She knew Dean was the one she needed to convince; if he caved in then it would be easy. But he wasn't looking at Max; he was looking over her head and glaring at Alec.

"Alec, let's talk," Dean said. He walked forward and grabbed Alec's arm and steered him to the door. Alec was really getting tired of being dragged around, but he knew he was already on thin ice and he didn't want to mess this up. He just wanted to be part of the hunt.

Dean brought him outside and released his arm after they were a few feet away from the house.

"She can still hear us," Alec mumbled with his eyes down. He knew he was in trouble. Dean sighed and walked a few more feet away, and then looked to Alec to see if that worked. Alec nodded so they stopped and faced each other.

"I thought we agreed that you would sit out as long as Sam sat out too," Dean said slowly.

"Dean," Alec said with a sigh. He ran his hand through his hair and stood there for a moment, and then said, "I don't want to sit out…We haven't been hunting since the Wendigo and…I don't know, I just want to get back out there…"

Dean ran his hand down his face, and then rubbed his chin in thought until he finally nodded. "I know how you feel…" Alec looked up hopefully. "I hate going this long without a hunt…"

"So, you're going to let me go?" Alec asked.

"Are you going to drop this if I say no?" Dean asked back.

"Nope," Alec said with a smile. "And if you leave me behind, I'll just follow you anyway."

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" Dean asked in amusement.

Alec gave him a wide smile back, but then tried to dodge Dean as he reached out to ruffle his hair. Dean caught him though and put him in a headlock. Alec tried to push him off, but he wasn't really trying as Dean messed up his hair.

"Don't think you're off the hook for this though," Dean growled as he kept Alec in the headlock. "I'm still pissed that you told on us." Alec just rolled his eyes knowing that his brother would forget about everything as soon as the hunt started.

Dean finally released him and Alec pushed him to the side with a laugh. Dean reached out for him again, but Alec blurred a short distance away and smirked at his older brother. He waited for Dean to catch up to him, and then started for the house.

"Holy shit!" Dean suddenly said, making Alec stop and turn around.

"What?" Alec asked in confusion. He didn't see what could have caught Dean's attention.

"Turn around again," Dean said, pushing lightly on Alec's shoulder to make him turn. Dean let out a low whistle and said, "Looks like she got ya pretty good, huh? These are some pretty impressive love scratches…"

Alec tried to turn his head so he could see what Dean was talking about. He barely caught a glimpse of four, red scratches down one of his shoulders and he knew there were matching scratches on his other shoulder. He'd forgotten about that and just shrugged back to Dean. "They'll disappear soon…"

"They hurt?"

"Nah…besides, they were worth it," Alec said with a smirk.

"That's my boy!" Dean said, cuffing Alec's hair again. Alec laughed and shook his head at his older brother. "C'mon, let's go break the news to your girlfriend that you're comin' along before she rips Sam and new one."

Alec nodded his agreement, and then followed Dean back into the house.

* * *

 _Next chapter we'll actually get to the hunt! Hope you guys have a great start to the New Year!_

 _More soon..._


	3. Chapter 3

_Ok this chapter is not the hunt, but it will happen the next chapter for sure! Hope you all like this!_

* * *

"So, what's first?" Max asked curiously.

Dean and Alec had come back inside and told her that Alec was going to go on the hunt. She had calmed down some, so Alec had run back to Command to get the rest of their clothes. They had waited until he had gotten back and they had both gotten dressed before they started talking about the hunt.

"We, as in me and you, are going to do research," Dean replied, but he had a spark in his eye, that she knew from Alec, meant trouble.

"What are we supposed to do?" Alec asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You and Sam can stay here and look stuff up on the laptop," Dean said offhandedly.

"So we're actually doing research while you're doing…" Sam said, trailing off with a question.

"We're researching," Dean said seriously. "We're just going out to research."

"Why can't we go too?" Alec asked petulantly.

"Because this is your punishment for telling on us to your girlfriend and Sam's going to babysit," Dean said simply. Alec scowled back, but he didn't argue, which surprised Max. "C'mon Max, we're wasting time."

Max looked to Alec, but he was ignoring them so she shrugged and followed Dean out of the house. They went to Dean's car without saying a word, and then he drove them out of Freak Valley.

"First rule of hunting," Dean said after a few miles. "Always try to get out of doing research. It sucks and it's stupid, but it's still necessary for hunting."

Max let out a surprised huff of amusement at Dean's statement. "So, we're not actually doing research…" Max guessed.

"No way," Dean said with a smile. "I hate research."

"So what are we doing?" Max asked.

"We are going to go make some money," Dean replied, shooting her a cocky grin. It was Alec's cocky grin and Max reacted to seeing it without thinking. She punched Dean's arm and he scowled back at her, "Hey! What was that for?"

"Sorry," Max apologized quickly. "You looked just like Alec then and I reacted without thinking."

Dean chuckled, "Well don't go jumpin' my bones tonight just because I look like him, because that would be awkward."

Max shot him a look of disbelief, and then crossed her arms and glared out the window. Dean was just as bad, or worse, than Alec was and it was infuriating. She couldn't believe she agreed to go wherever they were going.

She watched the trees flash by as they drove, but her curiosity was starting to stir again. "What's another rule of hunting?" She finally asked, loosening up a little so she could turn and glance at Dean.

"Nope, my lips are sealed because you're not very nice to me," Dean stated.

Max groaned and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm not sorry because you were a jerk first."

"I was not!" Dean said, pretending to be affronted.

"Whatever," Max said again, but she couldn't stop her small smile. "How are we making money tonight?"

"It's a surprise," Dean said with a smirk.

* * *

"Sam, I'm bored," Alec said again. As soon as Dean and Max left, he went over to the sofa and flopped down on the cushions. Sam had gotten his laptop out and started researching, but Alec wasn't interested in research.

"You could help with the research," Sam suggested with a smile. He knew Alec wouldn't want to do that, but it was fun aggravating his little brother. He understood now why Dean tried to aggravate him so much.

"Research is boring," Alec replied. He sounded like he thought Sam should know this already.

"If we get the research done then we could go do something else," Sam suggested.

"We don't have a car," Alec whined.

"We don't need a car to do something else," Sam said in amusement.

"If it's going to be fun then we need a car," Alec mumbled under his breath.

"Well we can't do anything until the research is done," Sam replied. He tried to hide his smile, but Alec popped up over the back of the sofa to glare at him.

"Sam," Alec tried to reason. "You know Dean isn't actually doing any research, so it doesn't make sense for us to do research either…"

"Y'know, Dean tries this all the time; it's not going to work."

"How about we research after we go have some fun," Alec tried again.

"Or," Sam drew out. "We research, and then go have some fun."

Alec sighed dramatically, but then got up and headed over to Sam. "Fine. What are we lookin' at?"

"A spirit," Sam answered. He hooked another chair with his foot and dragged it over so Alec could sit next to him. "A girl named Paige Dwyer died about 10 years ago in the Pan Pacific Hotel." Before Seattle had been destroyed, the hotel had been an elegant, 4 star hotel, situated just right for the perfect view of the Space Needle. Now, it was just as run down and destroyed as everything else. No one stayed there anymore; it was just crumbling with disuse.

"I know the place," Alec threw in. He looked a little troubled hearing the hotel and Sam decided to keep note of that and ask him about it in a little. "Who was Paige?"

"She was one of the housekeepers," Sam answered. "One of the other housekeepers found her body in one of the elevators, but when they had gone back, she was gone. The cops think that whoever did it came back and did something with her body before they could."

"Any leads on who did it?" Alec asked curiously. He didn't like research, but once there was a problem to solve, he was invested. He was actually really good at figuring out what was going on and how to solve hunts. Sam figured he just didn't like research because Dean didn't like it.

"There were speculations that one of the guests, Ian Malcolm, had something to do with her death, but he died a week after she did."

"How? And where?"

"Hung in the hotel," Sam answered.

"Sounds like Paige got her revenge…" Alec muttered.

"Well, if she did, it still didn't give her peace," Sam replied. "She kills any male-"

"Male that she can get her hands on," Alec finished.

Alec had a look that Sam knew meant he wasn't telling him something. "You know something about this, don't you?"

"I didn't know anything about Paige, but I knew something weird was going on with that hotel, I just didn't know what it was," Alec said quietly. Sam looked over at his little brother and waited patiently for him to continue.

"I was dealing some parts there, selling them to a group of thugs to make some money," Alec said. "I liked the spot because there's a big spiral staircase in the lobby where I could watch them walk in and make sure they weren't trying anything. I'd only been there a few times before, but this time was weird.

I got there early and I sat in my usual spot and waited. After a while I heard something mechanical running, which didn't make sense because the building was ruined. I heard other things too, but I just thought the guys I was dealing with were trying to mess with me. The guys showed up after a few more minutes, but before I could jump down to deal with them, they were thrown around by something that wasn't there."

Alec stopped, lost in thought and reliving the past. Sam wanted to find out what else had happened, but he waited a minute to let Alec work through it.

"I thought they might still be messing with me. I'd dealt with them before and they liked to mess around before they actually traded…anyway, they actually seemed scared, and after a few minutes I figured out that whatever was going on, they weren't behind it. I ran for it, but something threw me back before I could get to the door. Whatever it was, it killed the other guys, but I made it out…"

"You said you'd been there before and nothing happened?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yeah. Two other times to deal, but it was just briefly."

"Alright, we know for sure the place is haunted, now we just need to find her remains," Sam said.

* * *

"A bar? Really?" Max asked in disbelief, turning in her seat to shoot Dean a dirty look. He just smirked back and got out of the car. He didn't wait for her to follow; he knew she was curious enough to see what he had planned.

"I'll make a deal with you Maxie," Dean said with a smile as they walked to the door. "Whatever we make tonight, I'll split it with you 50/50."

"What exactly are we going to be doing?" Max asked suspiciously.

"We're going to trick people into giving us their money…" Dean replied easily.

"How?" Max drew out.

"Well, I found out recently that transgenics can't get drunk," Dean said.

"You mean when you and Alec decided to have some kind of drinking challenge and you lost miserably and ended up on a roof?" Max asked sweetly.

"He told you about that?" Dean asked in surprise.

Max nodded, "Yeah, we talk on the phone all the time. And I gotta say, I wish I would've seen Alec when you numbed his mouth."

Dean threw his head back and laughed, "Oh he was so mad! He kept trying to talk, but no one could understand him!"

Max laughed too, but then said, "It sounds like I'm going to be doing most of the work here, so I think I deserve more of the cut."

"Ok 60/40, but I'm not going any higher than that," Dean bargained.

"70/30"

"60/40 and I buy the drinks."

"Deal," Max said with a smile. They shook on it, and then headed into the bar. It was a grungy place with dim lighting and stains on the floor. It was packed in the bar, which was both good and bad. It was good because that gave them a lot of people to hustle and it was bad because that meant there were more chances for Max to be recognized.

He ignored that for now and went to the bar to get them their first round. They were going to ease into it, and then he was going to pretend to be drunk and challenge someone to outdrink him.

"Have you ever hustled before?" Dean whispered to Max. He set down Max's drink in front of her and took a sip of his own.

"I've lived on the streets of Seattle for years. I know how to hustle," Max stated with a glare.

"Ok, ok," Dean said with his hands raised in defense. "Just follow my lead for a bit, ok?"

"Fine," Max hissed through her teeth.

They drank a few rounds, and then Dean challenged a guy to a drinking game. Dean bet some money, but he tipped around and pretended that he was already gone. The guy was close to being drunk, but Dean figured he could go a few rounds and would be the perfect first target.

Dean knocked his drink over after the third round, and the guy declared that he was too drunk to win. Dean argued for a few minutes, but then Max stepped up.

"Dean, I think you've had enough," Max said sternly.

"I c'n keep goin'," Dean slurred.

"I think you need to listen to the girl, buddy," the guy said with a smile.

"You don' tell me wha ta do…" Dean mumbled. "My money, I keep goin'…"

"I won this money fair and square," the guy argued.

"My money!" Dean yelled, but Max held him back.

"How about I win it back?" Max asked him. The guy behind her laughed so she turned on him. "What, you think I can't?"

"No, I don't think you can," the guy said with a smirk.

"Fine, double or nothing," Max said with determination.

"You're on."

* * *

"Her body has to be in the hotel, Sam," Alec said again. He was still bored; he'd been intrigued for a minute, but now he just wanted to get on with the hunt.

"We don't know that for sure," Sam replied. Sam had looked up briefly from his laptop, but then back down. Alec rolled his eyes and got up from his perch on the back of the sofa. He went over to Sam and shut the laptop. Sam looked up and glared at Alec.

"Sam, I'm bored," Alec stated. "We figured out that the place is haunted for sure. The only place her body could be is in the hotel. You said we would research, and then have some fun. We researched, now it's time for fun."

Sam sighed, but then finally replied, "Fine, what kind of fun are we talking about here?"

Alec's eyes widened in surprise at Sam's agreement to stop researching. "We get to have fun?!"

"Don't look so surprised," Sam said with a laugh. "I went to college; I know how to have fun."

"Coulda fooled me," Alec said with a smirk.

"You're just as bad as Dean," Sam said. "Now, do you wanna have fun or not?"

"What'd you have in mind?" Alec asked with a glint in his eyes.

* * *

"Alright people! Place your bets!" Dean called out to the crowd gathered around. He had pretended to sober up some once the first guy had passed out. Another one had stepped up to take his place, but Max just kept drinking.

More people handed in their money; Dean had a pile for Max and a pile against her. All together it was over $1,000 and they'd made a good haul even before people started betting.

Max tossed back another shot, and then looked over at Dean with a smirk. The guy she was drinking against took his shot, but teetered on his bar stool. Max rolled her eyes at the man, and then turned to the rest of the bar.

"I think he's done. Who's next?" Max called out.

"This is bullshit!" Someone yelled in the crowd.

"Sounds like we've got a sore loser," Dean called back with a smile.

"You're cheating somehow!" The man said, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. He was middle aged with a scruffy beard and grungy looking clothes. He was a skinny guy and Dean almost smirked at seeing him.

"How would we cheat?" Dean asked with a laugh. "You can ask the bartender, she's the one pouring the drinks."

"They've all been alcoholic," the bartender said, her voice bored.

"Then you're cheating some other way!"

"Dean, I think it's time to make a graceful exit," Max whispered in his ear.

Dean barely nodded back; he could sense that things were starting to take a turn against them. People didn't like to lose, and they'd been taking their money for a while now.

"Wait! I finally figured it out!" Someone in the crowd called out. "I recognized them from somewhere!"

"It's time to go. Now," Max hissed.

"They're transgenics!"

* * *

"Sam, where are we going," Alec whispered.

Sam smiled back at his little brother. He hadn't told Alec what they were doing, and Alec seemed excited and nervous to see what was going to happen.

Sam walked over to a 2-door Ford that was in the garage at Freak Valley. Alec looked over at him in surprise. "We're going to steal a car?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Sam said with a smile. "And it's not technically stealing because we're going to bring it back."

"Where are we going?" Alec asked as he got into the car.

"Dean's right, you ask a lot of questions," Sam replied.

Alec continued to ask questions as Sam drove towards the city. He stopped at a little gas station on the way and Alec looked at him suspiciously.

"A gas station? That's your idea of fun?" Alec asked, his eyebrows up in disbelief.

"Just stay here for a second," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

Sam ran inside and he was surprised that Alec actually stayed in the car. He paid for his things, but then had the guy put it in a bag so Alec couldn't see what he got.

"What's in the bag?" Alec immediately asked.

"You'll see."

"Sam," Alec said with a groan. He flopped back against the seat dramatically, "The suspense is going to kill me. You are going to kill your own little brother. Is that what you want?"

Sam chuckled, "You're not gonna die of suspense. You'll find out soon."

Alec groaned again, but he sat quietly the rest of the way. Sam caught him trying to peek into the bag, but he pushed it out of sight. Sam finally parked, grabbed the bag, and then got out. Alec quickly got out, but then stopped and looked up in surprise.

"The Space Needle?!" Alec asked, excitement creeping into his tone and lighting up his eyes.

"I thought it'd be fun even though it's kinda broken down now," Sam said with a shrug. "Dean, you know, doesn't like heights so he probably wouldn't take you…"

Alec broke into a wide smile, "Max used to sit up there all the time. I went up there once and it was awesome!"

Sam smiled too; he was overly happy to be doing this for Alec, but he was trying to keep his cool. He didn't get to hang out with Alec one on one very often. Dean was kind of a little brother hog when it came to Alec, and Sam didn't want to mess up his chance.

They went all the way to the top, and then sat out on the edge. Dean would have never done this unless he had to. Alec swung his feet as he sat at the edge and Sam sat down next to him. He brought the bag over, and then revealed the contents to Alec. His little brother's eyes lit up and he looked over at Sam.

"I thought you didn't eat these?!" Alec asked in surprise.

"Only when Dean leaves me alone with research…it's my cheat day," Sam said with a smile. He held out the bag of candy and Alec dug around, and then pulled out a Snickers bar. Sam had grabbed chocolate for Alec and gummies for himself.

"Dean doesn't think you like candy," Alec said around his mouthful of chocolate.

"I do like candy, I just don't overeat it like he does," Sam replied with a smirk.

"You're secret's safe with me," Alec said. "Y'know what?"

"What?"

"I secretly like the vegetables," Alec admitted, looking straight ahead. "Don't tell Dean, ok?"

Sam laughed, "Ok, I'll keep your secret since you're keeping mine."

* * *

"Well shit," Dean said.

He pocketed their money, and then shoved the first guy that came at them. Max pushed someone, and then kicked another guy in the throat. Dean ducked as another guy threw a punch, and then Max took him down. Max held them back as Dean moved back to the bar.

He grabbed the money from earlier and winked at the bartender before he turned. But before he turned all the way back to the fight, the drunk guy sitting on the chair was looking at him curiously. He squinted and pointed at him like he was trying to figure something out. Dean just smirked and barely touched the guy and he tipped over to fall on the floor.

"C'mon!" Max shouted. She grabbed his arm and they ran for the door.

They were lucky since most of the people in the bar seemed too shocked to react to them. They still ran though, they didn't want to get caught up with a bunch of transgenic haters and end up on the nightly news. They ran to the Impala and Dean floored it to get out of there.

"That was close," Max said. She turned in her seat to make sure no one was following them.

"That was fun," Dean shot back. "It wasn't that close. And besides, we got all the money this way instead of just some of it."

"You took it all!?" Max asked incredulously.

"Yes I did," Dean said with a wide smile. He held up a wad of money and gave Max a quick glance, and then tossed her the cash. She smiled back at him and relaxed against her seat, counting her cut.

"That was pretty fun," Max finally relented. "And we made a pretty good team."

"And it was better than research," Dean said pointedly.

"I wonder how much Sam and Alec found out…" Max wondered out loud.

"Sam's like a research wiz and Alec is the best at figuring out mysteries, I'm sure they've got it all mapped out," Dean replied.

"What's another rule of hunting?" Max suddenly asked.

"Besides what we already taught you?" Dean asked in confusion. They'd told her the basics of hunting a ghost; they still needed to teach her some more, but he didn't really have actual rules to hunting.

"Yeah, I already know about the salt and the burning and what not, I wanna know more of your little rules, like research is the worst, but Alec and Sam are good at it. That kind of thing," Max said.

"I don't know," Dean said with a shrug. "Those aren't really rules; they're just…little things…"

"I know that," Max said with a huff, "I just want to know more of them."

"You mean you want to know more about…us," Dean said, amusement coloring his tone. Max just crossed her arms and looked out the window. It was quiet for a few minutes, and then Dean sighed, "Sam is terrified of clowns."

Max looked over at him hopefully, but Dean just stared out the window as he drove down the street.

"Alec takes a ton of naps. Sam refuses to cut his hair and I think it's because he knows it annoys me. Sam likes emo music and Alec likes it too and uses it to annoy me. He set some emo song as his ringtone and it plays constantly and gets stuck in my head. Alec likes heights and I hate them. He likes to scare the shit out of me and hang out on top of roofs. Alec knows how to play piano. Sam likes to play soccer. Sam went to college to be a lawyer and it was the worst four years of my life…" Dean stopped for a minute, and then said, "And this past year has been one of the best years of my life…"

Dean looked over at Max and saw that she was giving him a small smile of thanks.

"Alright, now if you want this money, this conversation is over," Dean said. This had already been too much of a chick-flick moment and he needed to get it over with.

Max laughed, "Alright, I won't make you keep going…but thank you for telling me all of that."

Dean shrugged as he pulled into Freak Valley and parked in the garage. "Let's go see what all they found out so we can get on with this hunt."

"Whatever you say," Max said with a smile.

* * *

Alec and Sam ran from the garage as Dean pulled in. He shot Sam a look and they both laughed as they ran back to the house. Sam ran to sit down in front of his laptop and opened it again. Alec jumped onto the sofa and kind of messed up his hair so it looked like he'd been sleeping for a while.

"You good?" Alec whispered to Sam.

"Yeah, I'm good," Sam replied with a smile.

Alec ducked back down and pressed his face into the cushions and slowed his breathing. A few minutes later the door opened and Dean and Max walked into the room.

"Did he help at all?" Dean whispered to Sam.

Sam chuckled, "Yeah, he helped a lot. The only thing we don't know yet is where her body ended up. We think it's in the hotel somewhere."

"You guys smell like alcohol," Alec mumbled, sitting up and pretending to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"We had a few drinks," Max replied. She gave him a soft smile, and then looked back to Dean.

"How was research?" Dean asked Alec with a smirk.

"Not bad," Alec replied.

Dean frowned, "Really? Not bad?"

Alec shrugged, "Yeah, it wasn't bad."

Alec shot a look to Sam and Sam smiled behind Dean's back. Dean looked between the two of them, but then shrugged.

"Alright, let's get on with this hunt," Dean finally said. He shot Alec and Sam one more suspicious look, and then sat down at the little table.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	4. Chapter 4

"We ready to go, or are we just going to hang out by the trunk all day?" Alec asked with a smirk. Dean jumped a little as he checked to see how many rounds of salt rounds they had. Of course he hadn't heard Alec walk up; the kid was way too quiet.

"We're waiting on you girlfriend," Dean shot back. "She's trying to spin some story so Mole won't follow us or something like that."

Alec rolled his eyes, "We're going to be here forever…"

Dean watched as Alec strolled over to Max and Mole. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but Alec was leading Max over just a few seconds later.

"We're ready now!" Alec said with a wide smile. Max didn't look happy that Alec had barged in, but she didn't say anything as she got into the backseat. Alec raised his eyebrows at Dean, and then followed Max inside.

"Go around!" Dean heard Max yell at Alec. "Just scoot over!" Alec yelled back.

Dean chuckled and shook his head in amusement. Only his brother would find someone just as headstrong as he was. Those two were perfect for each other.

"You think we're ready for this?" Sam asked softly as he met Dean at the trunk.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Dean replied. "You and Alec are sure that her body's in the hotel?"

"There's nowhere else it could be," Sam reassured. "We just have to search the hotel…"

"Piece of cake," Dean muttered sarcastically. He closed the trunk, and then went to his side of the car. He shot a quick look over at Sam over the top before he got inside. Sam quickly got in, and then Dean drove out of Freak Valley.

"Alright Max, pop quiz," Dean said with a wide smile after a few miles. Max groaned and Dean saw her look to Alec for help, but he was trying to hide a smile and just shrugged back at her.

"Dean," Sam sighed, looking over at him in annoyance. They had already given Max a sort of pop quiz and she'd passed with flying colors. Transgenics picked up on hunting way faster than Dean could have ever dreamed.

"What? You wanna give her the pop quiz this time?" Dean asked, pretending to be confused.

Sam shot him a bitchface, and then said, "Dean, we've already been through this twice."

"Then she should pass with no problem," Dean said with a smirk. "Number one, what do you do if the ghost starts comin' at you?"

"Use salt or iron to make it vanish," Max replied, bored.

"Good," Dean said. He glanced over at Sam to see if he wanted to ask one, but he just shook his head. "Ok, number two, how do you kill a ghost?"

"Salt and burn the bones," Max said.

"What if they were cremated?" Sam suddenly asked. Dean smirked; he knew Sam wouldn't be able to keep from asking a question.

"Then something's keeping them here and you need to find that and burn it. Are we done?" Max asked.

"This is just the beginning…" Alec muttered.

"Can we talk about the hunt instead?" Max tried to change their direction. "Like where we think the body could be?"

"Well she was last seen on the seventh floor in the elevator," Sam started.

"And Ian what's his face was staying in room 737," Alec threw in.

"So we think she has to be on the seventh floor somewhere," Sam finished.

"But, we have to watch out for the ghost as soon as we get there," Alec said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot Sammy told me you'd been there before," Dean said slowly. "What were you doing there again?" Sam had told him about Alec's other trip to the hotel, but he'd been a little troubled about something and Dean had forgotten to ask.

"Dealin' some parts to some thugs," Alec relied easily.

"What?!" Dean asked in shock. Dean glanced over at Sam to see his reaction and Sam nodded, signaling that he agreed with him.

Alec shrugged, "It wasn't the first time and it was a good way to make money."

"It wasn't even the worst thing he did to make money," Max threw in. She smiled over at Alec and nudged him. He smiled back and knocked his shoulder into hers.

"What was the worst thing?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.

Max opened her mouth to reply, but Alec cut her off, "Can we get back to the hunt? We're almost there."

Dean grumbled under his breath that he wasn't going to let this go, but they were getting close so he would have to bring it up again later. He didn't like hearing that Alec had to deal things and worse to make money. He didn't want his little brother to have to do those things to survive. He should have been there for him to take care of him.

Sam suddenly hit his arm and Dean glanced over at him. Sam barely shook his head at Dean to tell him to drop it and Dean looked back to the window.

Alec groaned, and then Max asked, "What?"

"They're talking to each other and it's about me," Alec replied, splitting his glare between Sam and Dean.

"Damn, he's getting better at that," Dean said to Sam.

"I know. It's a lot harder to keep secrets now," Sam replied with an amused smile.

"Now they're not even being quiet about it," Alec said to Max. She laughed and shook her head at him.

Dean parked the Impala and said, "We can do what we want little brother. That's the perk of being big brothers."

"I finally appreciate that line," Sam said with a smile. "It actually works in my favor now."

"See what I have to put up with?" Alec asked Max.

She lightly hit the back of his head and pushed him a little so he would get out of the car. "You deserve it," She said, and Dean could hear the smile in her voice.

Dean shook his head in amusement as he got out and went around to the trunk. He and Sam geared up, and then passed out some gear to Alec and Max. Their playful air they had a few minutes ago was gone and was replaced by a seriousness that always accompanied a hunt.

Dean made sure they were all ready, and then led the way into the run-down hotel.

Broken glass crunched under their boots as they walked through the lobby. There was a big, spiral staircase right when they walked in and a long wooden desk that ran the length of the lobby. The passed the spiral staircase and went to the next room that had two elevator doors against the wall.

Dean pushed the up button and waited a second. He looked up to the little arrow at the top, but it didn't light up and he didn't hear anything moving. He hadn't expected it to work, but it was worth a try.

Alec took the lead and brought them over to another door that led to more stairs. They were for the emergency exit so it wasn't fancy like the rest of the hotel, they were just concrete stairs. Alec started up the stairs and the others quickly followed while Dean brought up the rear.

Alec held his shotgun at the ready as he opened the door on the seventh floor. He went out and Sam quickly followed him so he could give him cover just in case. Max went next and she quickly scanned the hallway for any threats. So far, Dean was pretty impressed with how she was handling thing, but they hadn't encountered any obstacles yet.

Dean went out into the long hallway, and then went up next to Alec. He tapped his brother's shoulder and motioned that they were going to find the room. Alec nodded his approval, and then tapped Max and gave her the same signs.

Dean walked to the right and looked at the room numbers as he went. They were at 723 and the next one on his left was 725 so they were going the right way. They were going to search the room that Ian had been in before they looked anywhere else.

Room 737 had probably been a nice room before, but now it was a mess just like everything else. Furniture was broken and turned over, broken glass was on the floor, and a cold breeze was blowing in through the broken window. The pillows to the king sized bed were scattered, the sheets were shredded, and Dean couldn't really tell what the original color had been on the walls or on the bed. Everything was filthy and disgusting.

Dean made a face and went over to the little kitchenette. He peeked in the cabinets curiously, but they were all empty. If anything had been in this room before, it had long been taken.

They spread out to search the room, but there was no sign that a body had been stashed here. Dean almost wanted to suggest breaking through the walls, but he knew there would be evidence if that were the case.

"What's next?" Dean asked Sam.

"He was found in this room…" Sam muttered back.

"She was found in the elevator…we could look there," Alec said from across the room. He was looking up at the ceiling fan, but he glanced over when Sam and Dean didn't say anything in reply. "We don't have to, but-"

Alec didn't get to finish his sentence as the ghost suddenly appeared and threw him off his feet. Three guns fired at the same time and the ghost disappeared.

Dean ran over to Alec as Max breathed out, "Holy shit…"

Alec was already getting to his feet when Dean got to him and Sam went over to Max. Dean helped Alec up the rest of the way and Alec grumbled, "I forgot how much I hated ghosts…"

"You've only hunted one ghost before," Dean said in amusement.

"Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit," Max kept repeating.

"What's wrong with her?" Alec asked, shooting a glance over at Max.

"I think she's freaked out cause she saw a ghost…" Dean replied. He shot a look over at Sam silently telling him to fix this and he looked incredulously back at Dean clearly asking him how.

Dean shrugged back, and then he and Alec walked over to Sam and Max. Max was staring wide-eyed at the spot where the ghost had been, but she looked over at Alec and Dean when they came up to her.

"Congrats, you just saw your first ghost," Alec said with a hint of amusement.

"You guys were telling the truth…" Max breathed out.

Alec rolled his eyes, "Why would we make up ghosts being real? That's insane."

"Alright, we can discuss how right we were later," Dean said. He was on high alert just waiting for the ghost to come back. "Now, we need to smoke this bitch."

"We need to find her first…" Sam mumbled.

Dean glared at Sam and Sam shot him back a silent 'what?' "Thanks for that," Dean said sarcastically as he walked back to the door.

"It's true," Sam argued as he followed.

All four of them walked down the hall to the two elevators set in the wall just like in the lobby. They opened in the center and Dean figured that they could pry them open since the power was out and maybe look around. Dean nodded for Alec to come help him and they went to the first elevator while Sam and Max went to the second.

Alec stood on one side while Dean stood on the other and they pried open the doors. Dean was surprised to see that there were another set of doors after they opened the first which meant there was an actual car on their floor. Dean and Alec tried to open the car, but the doors wouldn't budge.

"Anything on your side?" Sam asked after a moment.

"There's a car, but we can't get the doors open," Dean replied. He looked over the doors again, but he didn't see any way to force them open. "What about you guys?"

"There's nothing on this side," Sam answered.

Dean frowned; it didn't make sense for her to be inside the elevator, someone would have noticed that.

"Sam!" Max shouted in warning. Sam turned just as Max raised her weapon. Max fired and the ghost disappeared, leaving Sam unharmed.

"Whoa," Max breathed out, a small smile starting to form. "I like this!"

Dean and Alec chuckled and Sam smiled as he went over to Max. She loaded her gun again, and then looked over at Alec with a wide smile. Dean looked back to the elevator; he knew this had something to do with this hunt. More so than just where Paige had been found.

"We need in here…" Alec muttered next to him. He was looking at the elevator now too and he must have been thinking what Dean was thinking.

"Her body wouldn't be in the elevator," Dean said.

"I know, but we should be able to open this…she's closed it off or something…" Alec replied. "We need in here…" Alec repeated.

Dean glanced over at Sam and Max and saw that they were looking down the empty elevator shaft. He started to walk over to them, but he was suddenly thrown off of his feet by an invisible force. He flew into Alec, who grunted in surprise, and they both rolled across the floor in a tangle of limbs.

Dean and Alec managed to untangle from each other, and then Dean looked up just in time to see Sam get pushed over the edge of the elevator shaft. Max lunged forward and slid on her stomach to the edge. She let out a huff of air as she grabbed onto something and hooked her foot on a thick pipe that was on the floor. Dean just hoped and prayed that it was Sam. She didn't let go, so it seemed like she had caught Sam.

Dean pushed himself to his feet and started over to Max so he could help her get Sam back up there. Movement to the side caught his eye. The elevator doors that they hadn't been able to open earlier were easily sliding open now.

There was a high pitched ding, and then Dean was thrown off his feet again. He heard Alec yell his name before he hit the wall of the elevator and slid down to the carpeted floor. He levered himself up using the rail around the walls to help him stand. The doors to the elevator were starting to close, but just before they shut completely Dean saw a blur slip through the crack, and then Alec was standing right in front of him.

"Alec," Dean said with a sigh.

"We wanted in here," Alec quickly defended himself. "Now we're in."

"We're stuck in a steel death trap," Dean argued. "That's not what we wanted."

Alec waved him off, "You and Sam are worry warts…" Alec walked around the small car, looking for any weaknesses that they could break through. He got up on the rail to inspect the ceiling when the car seemed to groan.

Dean reached over and pulled Alec to the ground. He didn't know what going on, but he had a bad feeling about this. Alec looked over at him and it was completely silent for just a moment, but then something snapped.

Dean's stomach dropped as the car started to free fall to the ground.

* * *

Sam hadn't seen anything coming when he'd been pushed over the edge. He hadn't been expecting anyone to catch him, but he put his arms up just in case and to try and maybe grab on to something. He'd been shocked when Max had caught him; both of her hands grabbing both of his. She slid forward with his weight, but she stopped suddenly and Sam guessed that she must have caught her foot on something.

Sam had almost forgotten how strong transgenics were. He was more than grateful now that Max was with them. He probably would have been toast if she hadn't been around.

Max pulled to lift him up and he tried to help as much as he could. His foot found a groove and he pushed off of it. With Max's help, they were able to get him back up to the floor without any problems. Sam stood, and then immediately looked around for his two brothers.

"Where are Dean and Alec?" Sam asked, turning to Max.

Max looked to the elevator; the doors were still closed, but Sam didn't have any other ideas. He slowly walked forward, but stopped when the car seemed to groan from a movement. Max came up to stand by his side as they tried to figure out how to get Dean and Alec out of there.

"No!" Sam yelled when something sounded like it snapped. The elevator dropped with his brothers still inside.

* * *

Alec's stomach dropped as the elevator started to fall. He felt almost weightless, but he needed to focus. He knew they only had seconds before they would hit the ground.

Without giving Dean a head's up, Alec tackled his older brother to the floor. Dean grumbled something, and then pushed Alec off of him. Alec ignored Dean and took off his jacket and pushed Dean back to the floor.

"Put this under your head and lie flat," Alec instructed. Dean looked like he was going to argue so Alec cut him off, "We don't have much time!"

Alec got down next to Dean. He had just gotten down when the time ran out and the elevator slammed into the ground. Alec blacked out at the impact.

It was a few minutes later before he finally came around again. Everything hurt and he couldn't really tell if he'd broken anything. He forced his eyes open, but he was confused since he wasn't looking up at the ceiling like he had been.

Alec just lay there for a moment to try and get his bearings. He was curled up on his side now, but his head was resting on something soft. Alec tried to look around him to find where Dean was; straight ahead was just the wall of the elevator and he didn't see Dean on the floor next to him.

"Dean?" Alec tried to call out, but it was barely a whisper.

Alec tried to push himself up, but gave up when his arms protested against the extra weight. "Dean?" Alec tried again, his voice a little louder this time. But Dean still didn't reply. That was alright, Alec would just take a minute to gather his strength, and then he would move.

The thing that Alec's head was resting on suddenly moved and Alec heard Dean groan. Alec turned his head and saw that he was partially resting on Dean. Alec scrambled so he wasn't on Dean anymore, and then quickly tried to look him over.

"Dean?!" Alec said frantically as he gently ran his hands over Dean to check for broken bones. Dean tried to smack his hands away, but it wasn't as forceful as usual.

"Get off," Dean grumbled. Alec ignored him.

Dean tried to smack his hands away again, but Alec was already done so he just let Dean have his way. Alec sat back a little to give Dean his space and waited. He found that Dean didn't have any broken bones, but Alec knew he was hurting.

"You alright?" Dean asked finally sitting up. He collapsed against the wall of the elevator and Alec moved forward a little in concern. Dean waved him off again, but Alec ignored him this time.

There was a cut above Dean's eye and blood was running down his cheek, but there wasn't much Alec could do about that. Alec forgot that Dean had asked him if he was ok, and the next second Dean was checking him over.

Alec tried to smack Dean's hands away, but Dean just caught his wrist and held it to the side. "You've got a pretty big lump on the back of your head…" Dean muttered.

"You've got a cut over your eye," Alec shot back. "But we're still alive."

"Yeah, good job on the whole being flat on the ground thing…" Dean said. "Except, you could've just told me instead of tackling me…"

"Sorry," Alec said sheepishly.

Alec pushed himself to his feet, but had to grab the rail to stay standing. "Mission accomplished though," Alec said in amusement. "We are in the elevator and we survived the death trap."

"Jeez, you inherited way too much optimism," Dean muttered, joining Alec at the rail. "How are we getting out of here?"

"We'll find a way out," Alec said distractedly. "Unless Sam rescues us first…"

"If Sam's ok…" Dean muttered.

"He is," Alec said confidently. "Max caught him."

"I hope you're right…"

* * *

"What are you doing?" Max asked, watching him closely.

Sam ignored her and looked down the elevator shaft that his brothers had just fallen down. "Keep a lookout," Sam suddenly replied. "That ghost could be back any minute, so be ready."

"You want me to keep watch?!" Max asked incredulously. "You do know this is my first hunt right?"

"I know, but I can't leave them down there," Sam said, shooting a glance down the elevator shaft. He had to get down to his brothers and make sure they were ok.

"Then I'm going with you," Max stated. Sam thought about it for a moment, but then Max said, "I want to make sure they're ok too and you might need help once you're down there."

"Fine. You can come with me," Sam grumbled; he didn't want to waste time arguing with her. He didn't wait for Max's reply; he sat down at the edge and used the grooves in the wall to start climbing down. Max started after him when he was a few feet below her.

They had a long way to go, and Sam tried his best to focus on every move he made. One wrong step and he could end up dead on top of their elevator. But the only thing he could think of was his brothers. They could be dead now and there was nothing he could do about it. Falling that far in an elevator was definitely not safe.

Sam's foot suddenly slipped and he held on for dear life. Max called his name, but he had to ignore her and focus on getting his foot back on the groove. Max slid down a few feet, and then gracefully leapt over next to him and clung to the wall. She slid down some more and helped him get back on the wall.

"Thanks," Sam breathed out. His heart was pounding from his close call; he was really glad now that Max had argued to come with him. Max nodded to him, and then they started down the wall again.

"Alec used to cage fight," Max suddenly said after they went a few feet.

"What?" Sam asked in confusion.

"I thought it'd be better if we had something to talk about…keep out minds off of not falling to our deaths," Max said. "And you asked earlier what the worst thing he'd done for money was and that was what I thought was the worst…"

"He really used to cage fight?" Sam asked, slightly breathless.

"Yeah, the moron," Max said, but she sounded almost loving as she said that. "White tracked him down because of it too."

"What?!"

"Yup," Max said, popping the P. "Captured him and Alec talked his way out of getting killed. Agreed to do some things that I know he didn't want to do, but he had to since he had a bomb in the back of his head. I was so mad at him when I found out…"

"I can't believe he was cage fighting," Sam muttered. He hated hearing what Alec had to do. He wished again that they had found out about him sooner so they could have kept him from having to do those things. He really wished they could have gotten him out of Manticore sooner, but it didn't do them any good wishing about things. Alec was with them now, and Sam wasn't going to let anything take away his little brother.

"He was actually really good," Max said. "Though, I still managed to kick his ass."

"Probably good to knock him down a peg or two," Sam said in amusement. He knew Alec was cocky, so was Dean. Both of them needed to be reined in sometimes.

"He is really confident," Max said with a light laugh.

"I know where he gets it from too," Sam muttered.

He looked down and was surprised to see that they were almost to the elevator car already. He jumped the rest of the way and landed on top of the car. He heard one of his brothers curse, but he actually didn't know which one it was. Max landed lightly next to him and together they went to the hatch.

Max opened the hatch and Sam immediately looked in to find his brothers. He let out a breath of relief when he saw both of them looking back at him, mostly unscathed.

"Told ya," Alec said to Dean with a small smile.

"Shut up," Dean grumbled, lightly pushing Alec to the side.

"You both ok?" Sam asked even though he could see that they seemed fine.

"We're fine," they both said in unison and rolling their eyes.

Dean pushed Alec's shoulder, signaling for him to get a move on. Alec scowled back, but he climbed up on the rail and Sam reached in to help him out of the car. Dean went next, and once they were both out of the elevator Sam stood in front of them and started checking them over.

"Sam, you do remember that we're on a hunt, right?" Alec asked. "Nasty ghost trying to kill us all…we still need to find the bones…"

"I just watched both of you fall seven floors, so excuse me for being a little worried about you," Sam muttered.

Alec rolled his eyes and turned away from Sam once he was cleared. Sam kept his eye on him as he went on to check Dean. Alec looked around the walls, but Sam didn't really know what he could be looking for so he turned back to Dean.

"You sure you're ok?" Sam asked softly.

"I'm sore as Hell, and I know Alec is too, but we're alright," Dean replied.

"I can't believe you guys aren't hurt worse…" Sam said.

Dean shrugged, "Let's just say, I'm really glad Alec weaseled his way onto this hunt…"

"Speaking of Alec…" Sam said, looking for his little brother again. Alec was looking up at the wall opposite the doors to the floor. Max was beside him, looking at him curiously.

"What are you thinking?" Sam heard Max ask Alec suspiciously.

"Just keep a lookout for that ghost…" Alec muttered in reply.

He made an incredible leap up to the closed doors. The elevator car had crashed to the bottom of the building, but the first floor was a few feet above them. It was too high for Sam or Dean to make the jump, but it was no problem for Alec.

Sam could only watch as Alec wobbled a little when he turned. Alec steadied himself, and then jumped across the elevator shaft to the far wall. He slid down for a second, but the managed to latch onto something.

"I really wish he would tell us before he does something like this…" Dean muttered. His eyes were on Alec just like Sam's were. They didn't want anything to happen to their little brother, but Alec had a mind of his own. _Alec and Dean are too alike in that aspect too_ , Sam thought.

"Y'know, I've thought the same about you," Sam said, nudging Dean's arm.

Dean just rolled his eyes and looked back up to Alec.

Alec pulled a square vent from the wall; he looked down to make sure he didn't hit anyone when he dropped the vent. He peeked inside the air vent for a second, and then jumped back down to the ground. He stumbled a little on his landing and Sam and Dean both reached out to steady him.

Alec straightened up and looked at both of them, "I found her."

"What?!" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.

"I found her. She's in the vent," Alec stated.

"How'd you know she'd be in there?" Sam asked curiously.

Alec shrugged, "Ian Whatever wouldn't have had much time to move the body so he must have kept her in the elevator. He probably just took her out through the hatch that we just went through, and then waited up there. When the elevator went down to the first floor and stayed there, I would say that he saw the vent, put her in there, and then went back through the hatch and up to his floor."

Sam, Dean, and Max all looked at him in shock until Dean said, "How'd you get to be so smart?"

Alec just shrugged and tried to hide his smile. Dean clapped Alec on the back, and then he and Sam got the spare salt and lighter fluid out of their jackets. They were just about to hand them over to Alec so he could salt and burn the body when the ghost suddenly reappeared.

She knocked Alec off of his feet and he hit the wall hard. Sam reached for his shotgun, but the ghost was already gone.

Dean was suddenly lifted off of his feet. He was reaching for his neck like something was choking him, but there was nothing there. It was like he was hanging from an invisible rope.

Sam frantically looked for a way to free Dean, but he couldn't see any. The only way was to get rid of the ghost, but he couldn't jump like Alec could. His eyes turned to Max; she looked back at him and waited for her orders.

Sam grabbed the lighter fluid that Dean had dropped and went over to Max. He shoved the salt and the lighter fluid into her hands and said, "You have to do it. Go up there just like Alec did. Pour the salt on the bones and drench them in lighter fluid." He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and gave it to her. "And then light her. Think you can do it?"

Max nodded; her determination clear. She pocketed the lighter and held the salt and lighter fluid in one arm, and then leapt up to the elevator doors.

Sam turned back to Dean. He was still struggling against the invisible rope, but Sam didn't how much longer Dean could hang on.

Alec stood up across from him and held his shotgun up, but it looked like he was aiming it just above Dean's head. Before he could get a shot off though, he was thrown back again. His head hit against the wall with a sickening thud, and then he collapsed to the top of the elevator car, out cold.

Sam brought his gun up and aimed where Alec had aimed. Alec must have thought that the rocksalt would sever the rope and Sam figured it was worth a try. He fired just as he was thrown back and forced against the wall. He saw Dean fall, but then cold hands wrapped around his throat.

She was a petite brunette and if she didn't look insane with the intent of killing him, he thought she would probably be pretty. Almost doll like in her features. Sam tried to bring his gun around, but she easily hit it out of his hand.

Sam tried to push Paige off of him, or at least keep her from strangling the life out of him. When that didn't work, he looked for Dean or Alec. Alec was still out and Dean was on his hands and knees coughing, trying to force air back into his lungs through his abused throat.

Spots started to appear in his vision and he started struggling less. He prayed that Max was almost done.

He started to slip down the side of the wall, his legs losing the ability to hold him up. The ghost looked at him with a satisfied smirk, but then looked up to the vent with panic and released him.

Sam took a deep breath, and then coughed, finding breathing almost painful.

Paige suddenly looked back to him, but then burst into flames and disappeared. Sam looked up to the vent and saw Max hanging onto the side of the wall, flames licking the sides of the vent. She did it.

Max jumped down and landed in between him and Dean. She helped him up so he could go to Dean, and then she went to check on Alec.

Sam patted Dean's back and asked quietly, "You alright?"

"Peachy," Dean ground out, his voice rough. "Ghost?"

"Gone," Sam answered. "Max took care of it."

"You alright?" Dean asked.

"Fine…" Sam replied. He helped Dean to his feet and they both went over to where Max was trying to get Alec back with them.

Sam made Dean sit down next to Alec, and then looked to Max. "You think you could get those doors open?"

Max looked up to the elevator doors, and then looked back to Alec. She lightly brushed her fingers through his hair before she nodded. She stood up, and then easily jumped up to the doors again.

Sam shifted his attention back to Alec. He rubbed his little brother's shoulder, but Alec didn't wake up.

"Give him a minute," Dean said. His voice still sounded rough, but it sounded like he was breathing easier.

"I've got them open," Max called down. She landed next to them a moment later and Sam glanced up at her.

"How're you holding up, Max?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, what'd you think of your first hunt?" Dean threw in.

It was quiet for a minute, and then Max stated, "Holy shit."

* * *

 _Hope you all liked the hunt! More soon!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry for the long delay, but here's the next chapter!_

* * *

Max didn't know what to think about her first hunt. She was exhilarated, terrified, in shock, and amazed. Her adrenaline was pumping and she couldn't believe what had just happened. She'd just killed a ghost.

"Holy shit." That was the only thing she could think of in reply to Sam and Dean's questions. Her heart was still pounding, but she also felt like she was ready for another hunt. The only problem she had with hunting was the physical trauma that they had been through.

Sam had nearly been thrown down an elevator shaft, Alec and Dean had been dropped in an elevator seven floors up, Sam had nearly been strangled, Dean had nearly been hung, and Alec had been tossed around like he was nothing until his head had slammed against the wall and he was still unconscious because of it.

This gig was way more dangerous than Alec had let on.

Dean chuckled at her reply, but then gingerly moved closer to Alec. He was facedown and his eyes were still closed; it almost looked like he was sleeping. Dean checked him for broken bones, and then he and Sam gently turned him over.

Max watched in fascination as the two men carefully moved Alec around. They were so gentle with him; it was a complete contrast to how they had been against the ghost. Dean cushioned Alec's head with his leg, and then rested one hand on Alec's chest while his other hand gently checked Alec's head. Blood was starting to matte Alec's hair on one side and Dean pressed some cloth against the cut to stop the bleeding.

"Should we wait until he wakes up or just go ahead and move him?" Sam asked quietly.

"I don't know how you expect to get him from here to there," Dean muttered back, shooting a glance up to the elevator doors above them. It wasn't far, but they couldn't really carry Alec and climb up there.

"I could jump up there with him," Max offered. Sam and Dean both shot her looks of disbelief and she rolled her eyes, "I'm a transgenic, remember? I can carry twice my own weight, easy."

Sam huffed out a laugh, but Dean still didn't look convinced. She didn't know if he was uncertain about her ability to get Alec up there or if he just didn't want to move Alec yet.

"Give him another minute," Dean finally answered. Max decided he was reluctant to move him.

Max sat down next to Dean and Alec, and then Sam sat down next to her. "Is the ghost really gone now?" Max finally asked to break the silence.

"Yeah, she's gone," Sam replied. "You did a good job."

"So…" Max started out slowly. "Say I wanted to do another hunt…" Dean looked away from Alec in surprise. "What would be the next step?"

She watched as Sam shot a smile over at Dean, but Dean's focus was on her. "You really want to hunt?"

Max nodded, "I do. And I think others will want to as well. This could be a good way for us to have something good to do with our lives. We were built for this, but we're going to need training."

"We know a guy that could teach you. All of you," Dean replied softly.

"Would he be willing to do it?" Max asked, afraid of the prejudice against her people. Sam and Dean both nodded that he would. Max smiled knowing that her people would finally have more to their lives besides just surviving to the next day. They could make a difference in this world and do something to actually help others. She just needed to convince them that this was real. That was going to be fun.

"It's going to take a lot of work," Dean warned after a moment.

"We're a pretty determined group," Max replied with a small smile.

Alec suddenly made a small sound, instantly drawing Dean, Sam, and Max's attention. He turned a little on Dean's leg, but then stopped and winced at the movement.

"Hey kiddo," Dean murmured. He patted Alec's chest with one hand and cupped his cheek with the other. Max watched as Sam moved closer to Alec so he could touch his arm to try and comfort him.

Max had seen how much Sam and Dean cared for Alec on their last visit, but their bond seemed even stronger now. They really were brothers and she could easily see it now. She couldn't imagine Alec being away from his brothers at all now, and she wouldn't ask him to leave them. He belonged with them.

"How ya feelin'?" Dean asked softly.

Alec's eyes were still closed, but he took a deep breath and whispered, "I think my head's going to fall off…"

"That good huh?" Dean said with a small smile.

"Think you can open your eyes?" Sam asked, keeping is voice low so he didn't make things worse.

"Not if I wanna keep my breakfast…" Alec muttered.

"That's gonna make it hard to get out of here," Dean said.

"'S the ghost gone?" Alec asked.

"Max smoked her," Dean replied. He shot her a proud smile and her heart swelled with the silent praise.

"Good job, Maxie," Alec said sincerely. These boys were just trying to kill her; who knew she would feel so good by just helping them out on one hunt.

"Dean," Sam said to get Dean's attention. Dean looked over at him and Max waited for Sam to say something, but he didn't. It seemed like they were just looking at each other and it took Max a minute to figure out that they were actually talking to each other like they had been in the car.

"Stop," Alec groaned after a moment, turning a little on Dean's leg. "My eyes are closed and I still know you two are doing that conversation thing…"

"Sorry kiddo," Dean said in amusement. "We're trying to figure out how to get you out of here."

"Give me a minute…" Alec mumbled. "I'll be good to go…"

"Yeah, that sounded convincing," Sam said, shooting a smirk over at Dean.

"Help me up," Alec said stubbornly. He opened his eyes a crack and held his hand out for Sam's help. Sam got him sitting up and Dean immediately supported him when he started to tip back. "I changed my mind…" Alec said. "You guys go ahead…I'll catch up."

"Not happening," Sam and Dean replied in unison. Max looked at them in amusement, but they didn't even notice. It must happen too often for them to notice.

"Here are your options," Dean said after a moment. "You can let Max pick you up and she can jump up there with you or you can let me and Sam help you climb up that wall. Either way it's going to suck, but we can't stay down here."

"Option B," Alec finally replied. "Sorry Maxie, but I don't like being carried."

Sam and Dean shared another look and Max rolled her eyes. She got up, and then crouched down in front of Alec. She saw that he had his eyes closed again so she put her hands on both sides of his face. Alec opened his eyes in surprise, but then flinched against the light. It was pretty dim in the elevator shaft so Max knew his head was really hurting him.

"Alec," Max said softly, "Just for once make this easy on yourself and let me help you."

"No can do Max, that's not programmed into my DNA," Alec replied with a small smirk.

Max rolled her eyes and released Alec, and then stood. She watched as Sam got to his feet, and then reached down to help Alec up. Dean supported Alec's back as Sam pulled him up. Sam and Dean both kept Alec steady once they were all up.

Alec collapsed back against Dean, but Dean was ready for him and tried to soothe, "Easy, I gotcha…"

"I might throw up on you…" Alec muttered back. Max noticed his eyes were closed again, which was probably the only reason he hadn't thrown up yet.

"Alec," Sam said softly after a moment, "you're going to have to open your eyes to get up that wall." Alec barely opened his eyes to glare at Sam, but Sam patted Alec's neck and smiled, "Look, you're already halfway there."

Alec let out a dramatic sigh, but he let Sam lead him over to the wall. He made it about halfway there, and then he stopped and he threw up. Dean and Max both moved to do what they could, but Sam shook his head at them and helped Alec stay up.

"Told you…" Alec grumbled after a moment. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and tried to stand by himself, but failed. He growled in frustration and Sam moved in front of him and tried to meet Alec's gaze.

"Hey, it's alright," Sam said softly. "As soon as we get up that wall, we're home free."

"You make it sound so easy," Alec muttered.

"Y'know what would make it easier?" Dean asked. "Just letting Max take you up there."

Alec let out a dry chuckle, and then made a face at Dean. Sam made a face at Dean that Alec couldn't see and Max couldn't help her small smile. Sam started bringing Alec back over to the wall and Dean rolled his eyes and followed them after a moment.

Alec shrugged out of Sam's help once they were at the wall and mumbled, "I got it…"

Sam sighed and looked at Dean like this was his fault. Dean looked at him clearly asking 'what'?

It wasn't as bad as Max imagined it would be. Sam and Dean stayed close to Alec, and it was slow going, but it wasn't terrible. Max followed behind them, and before she knew it, they were at the top. Alec collapsed to the ground at the top and put his head in his hands.

Dean gently pulled on Alec's arm, getting him back to his feet. Alec groaned, but then ended up burying his face in Dean's jacket. It was brighter up here and if the light hurt him in the elevator shaft, it had to be ten times worse now.

Dean dug the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Sam. They looked at each other and this time Max knew they were speaking to each other. Sam nodded once, and then motioned for Max to follow him. She hesitated for just a second, shooting a look at Dean and Alec, before she walked after Sam.

"So, who's this friend of yours?" Max asked as they walked towards the Impala.

"Bobby," Sam said with a small smile. "He's kind of mine and Dean's surrogate Dad. He was there a lot for us when we were kids and even more now that our actual Dad is dead."

"What's he like?" Max asked curiously. She wanted to know more about the Winchesters; they were Alec's family and she wanted to be a part of it.

Sam chuckled as he unlocked the car. "He's a gruff teddy bear," Sam said in amusement. "He's grouchy, but he really cares."

"How'd you guys meet him?" Max asked as they both got in the car.

"Our Dad dropped us off there sometimes when he went on a hunt. We'd stay with Bobby until he got back," Sam replied.

"You really think he'll help?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I know he will," Sam stated.

* * *

Dean knew Alec didn't like an audience when he was hurting. He was ok if it was just one or two people, but if he was really hurt, the number seemed to get smaller. He didn't want people to see him like that. Dean understood the feeling.

Alec still had his face pressed against Dean, hiding from the light. Dean wrapped his arms around his little brother to try and comfort him. No matter what all Alec had been through, he was still a kid. Even though he denied it, Dean knew he liked the comfort. That was another reason why Dean had sent Sam to get the car. Alec probably wouldn't have accepted the comfort with more people around.

Alec groaned, and then mumbled, "My head is killing me…"

"I know kiddo," Dean whispered. "We're gonna get you back so you can lie down. You can take a nice long nap, and who knows? Maybe Max will cuddle with you."

Alec chuckled a little, "She's probably got things to do…besides, you and Sam are just going to wake me up every two hours anyway…"

Dean let out a little huff of a laugh, "Yeah, we are, but it's for your own good."

"I know," Alec said with a sigh.

"C'mon," Dean said after a moment. "Sam's probably got the car all ready for us now."

"I think ghosts are the worst…" Alec mumbled as he slowly moved away from Dean.

Dean stayed close by and kept his hand against Alec's back just in case he stumbled. Alec was still squinting against the light and he looked pretty miserable. Dean was glad to see his Baby sitting outside the hotel and he and Alec quickly got in the back.

"You doing any better?" Sam asked Alec as they got in.

Alec shrugged, and then immediately leaned against the door. Dean nodded for Sam to drive once they were all in. The sooner they got back to Freak Valley, the better.

* * *

"What'd Bobby say?" Sam whispered.

"He's not too far, said he'd be here in a couple hours," Dean replied softly. He set his phone down and went over to the sink to try and wash up. They'd cleaned Alec up as much as they could first thing so he could go ahead and sleep, but they were still covered in dirt and blood.

They were both being as quiet as possible; Alec was asleep on the sofa. Max was sitting with his head in her lap, gently running her fingers through his hair, trying to ease his headache. She was watching them curiously as they talked, but she didn't say anything.

They all jumped suddenly when someone banged loudly against the front door. Dean, Sam, and Max all looked at each other. Alec let out a small groan and shifted against Max.

Before any of them could do anything, Mole barged in. He took in the room and scowled when he saw their disheveled appearances and Alec passed out on the sofa. He slowly walked further into the room and looked at Max suspiciously.

"Where have you been?" Mole asked after a moment.

"We went out…" Max replied. Dean rolled his eyes, she was not very convincing at all.

"Were you guys jumped or what?" Mole asked. "You look like shit." None of them said anything, so Mole continued, "It's really hard to believe that two transgenics and two guys who can easily hold their own against transgenics got jumped, but I guess stranger things have happened…Me for example…"

"Mole, calm down," Dean tried to placate. He liked Mole, but they guy's voice was like a megaphone. They were trying to keep quiet because Alec's head hurt and he didn't seem to care all that much. He knew Mole cared about Alec, but the guy needed some help showing it sometimes.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Winchester," Mole growled. "You sneak off with our leader and bring her back covered in dirt and blood and you're telling me to calm down?!"

Max carefully got up and gently put Alec back on the sofa while Mole was talking. She moved closer to him, and then tried her hand and calming him down, "Mole, let's maybe talk outside? I can try to explain what we did…"

"Don't you use your soothing voice on me!" Mole yelled, "I wanna know what you all were doin' right now!"

Sam and Dean both moved forward as Alec groaned, "Mole…volume…"

"Can we take this outside?" Dean more demanded than asked.

"No," Mole stated, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

Dean looked over at Sam and Sam shrugged back, telling him that maybe they should just tell him to get rid of him. Dean shook his head, clearly saying that, that was an insane idea and maybe Sam needed to get _his_ head checked out. Sam scowled back at him and silently asked him what they were going to do.

"What is wrong with them?" Mole asked, making Sam and Dean both look at him in confusion. "Why are they giving each other weird looks?"

"Oh, they're just talking to each other," Max waved off, and after a moment said quietly, "You wouldn't actually believe it if we told you what we were doing."

"Try me," Mole replied stubbornly.

Sam gave Dean one last look until Dean finally sighed and said, "We were hunting a ghost."

Mole looked between the three of them before he snorted out a laugh. Dean rolled his eyes as they waited for Mole to stop laughing. He sobered up after a minute, and then said, "That was pretty good Winchester. You kept a straight face the entire time."

"I'm being completely serious," Dean said.

"Yeah right," Mole replied easily.

"He's telling the truth," Max defended.

Mole scowled at her, and then looked around at them all again as if he was waiting for them to start laughing. They didn't laugh though and finally his mouth dropped open in disbelief.

"You can't be serious," Mole said with a huff.

"Mole, I didn't believe them either, but they just showed me the proof," Max said.

"I don't see why it's so hard to believe in the first place…" Alec mumbled, his voice muffled by the sofa.

"Because ghosts aren't real," Mole stated.

"Yes they are," everyone said at the same time.

It was quiet in the room for a few minutes until Mole finally said, "If you're not messing around with me…then I guess you wouldn't mind announcing what you've been up to, to the rest of Freak Valley."

"Mole!" Max exclaimed. She looked over at Alec guiltily, but then she said quieter, "This isn't the right way to do this."

"That's too bad, 'cause I don't believe any of you," Mole grumbled.

"Fine," Dean said, surprising everyone. "Get everyone together and we'll break the news that ghosts are real."

Mole looked at him like he was insane, but then shrugged and went back to the door. Max and Sam waited until the door was closed before they started in on their protests.

"Dean, what are you doing?"

"We can't break the news like this!"

"Bobby was going to help us tell everyone else to really convince them. The more people who say this is real, the more likely they'll believe us."

"Now we have to tell everyone and no one is going to believe us!"

"It's gonna be fine," Dean finally said. "If this will convince Mole, then more will be convinced just because we're announcing it. Some might be like Alec and just take our word for it. And if they're like Max, then we'll wait for Bobby to get here and find a way to prove it to them." They both looked at him for a few more seconds, but it seemed like they didn't have anything else to say.

Movement to the side caught Dean's eye and he turned and saw that Alec was starting to push himself up from the sofa.

"What do you think you're doin'?" Dean asked, walking over to his little brother.

"I'm going with you to help convince everyone," Alec stated like it was obvious.

"No you're not," Dean argued. He pushed Alec back down to the sofa. He looked over his shoulder at Sam and Max and said, "You two go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute."

Sam and Max hesitated for a minute, but then slowly walked out the door. Dean watched them go, and then looked back at Alec. He had his arm covering his eyes so he didn't see Dean looking at him. Dean slowly moved away, but watched to make sure Alec didn't move, before he went to their bathroom.

He found a washcloth and ran it under cold water. They didn't have any ice so this was going to have to work. He rung out the soaked washcloth, and then brought it back to Alec.

Alec actually jumped when Dean put the cold washcloth on him. That told Dean all he needed to know about how hurt Alec was.

"I should be going with you guys…" Alec mumbled. "You need more people with you…"

"The only thing I need is for you to keep your ass on this sofa," Dean said with a small smile. Alec huffed out a laugh, and then shifted to get more comfortable. Dean patted his chest and said, "What am I gonna do with you, kid?"

Alec shrugged and mumbled something unintelligible.

"I have no idea what you said," Dean said with a light chuckle.

"You could just let me go with you," Alec mumbled, slightly louder.

"Not this time kiddo," Dean replied. "Besides, you don't want to be around for this one. Your big brothers are gonna get laughed at…and that's just the best case scenario."

"Some of 'em will believe you…" Alec said. Dean could tell Alec was about to lose his fight with sleep again.

"I know," Dean said even though he didn't really believe it. He was partly glad that Alec wasn't going; he didn't want his little brother to get laughed at by all of his friends. But then again, Alec would help convince them and he would miss Alec's sarcastic looks and sassy remarks. And Alec would tell them outright what was going on instead of trying to beat around the bush.

But Dean got up after a few minutes, when he was sure Alec was asleep. He found a blanket in the house and put it on Alec before he left.

* * *

"This is a disaster…" Sam muttered to Dean.

They had gone to the Mess Hall where Mole had gathered the majority of the transgenics in Freak Valley. He and Max had waited for Dean before they had told everyone that ghosts were real. Sam had let Dean do the talking to start out, but everyone had thought he was joking. Sam had jumped in, and if possible, had made things worse. Now instead of thinking they were joking, they all thought they were insane.

Mole was standing off to the side with a smug look on his face. Max had tried as much as she could to help convince them, but it wasn't doing any good. They were just going around in circles and nothing was being accomplished. Sam figured they'd been at this for a couple hours, at least.

"I guess we need a plan B…" Dean said back to Sam.

"Which is…" Sam trailed off with a question.

"I'm working on it," Dean grumbled.

"We need some way to prove it to them."

"Yeah, but there's no hunt that we could take all of them on and it would take way too long to take them each on their own hunt," Dean said.

"We could see if Bobby has any ideas," Sam suggested.

"Yeah, if we ever get out of here…"

Every time they tried to leave, someone would rope them back into the argument. They wanted proof, but they didn't have any physical proof. There was no way to prove that they were sane and that ghosts were real while they were at Freak Valley.

"How are you supposed to kill one!?" Someone from the crowd called out, dragging them back into the argument all over again.

* * *

Bobby followed the directions that Dean had given him to Freak Valley. He didn't quite know what he was getting himself into, but it'd been a while since he'd seen the boys. And he was curious to meet Alec's girlfriend and the rest of Alec's friends.

He hadn't really accepted Alec when he'd first met the kid, but he'd been proven wrong and now he considered Alec as one of his own. He needed to make sure the kid was taking care of himself too. He trusted Sam and Dean to do it, but he was still a Winchester.

Bobby had to stop at a gate, and then a guard started to walk up to his old car. He was surprised to see that the guard was just a kid with a rifle slung over his shoulder. He tapped on the window when he was at the door and Bobby slowly rolled it down.

"I'm looking for the Winchesters. They said they were here," Bobby said as a greeting.

"What's your name?" The kid asked suspiciously.

"Bobby Singer…I'm a family friend," Bobby replied.

The Kid still didn't look like he believed him, but he nodded after a moment and the gate in front of him opened. The Kid followed him in and motioned for him to park. Bobby did what he was told, and then got out and went over to the kid.

The Kid didn't say anything as he led the way through what looked like an abandoned suburb. The place looked even junkier than his salvage yard, and he thought it was a strange place to live. The Kid walked through the maze of streets, but then stopped at a small, one story house.

Bobby followed the kid the entire way, and was surprised when he just walked in the house instead of knocking. Bobby walked in behind him and was shocked to see that the destroyed outside was just a cover; the inside was actually really nice and homey.

The Kid walked further into the room and Bobby finally saw that one of his boys was sleeping on the sofa. As he got closer he realized it was Alec passed out on the sofa, and he vaguely wondered what he'd gotten himself into this time.

"Alec," the kid whispered. He reached out and shook Alec's shoulder. "Alec," he said a little louder.

Alec groaned, and then turned a little to glance over at the kid. He didn't turn far enough to see Bobby so he just collapsed back to the cushions and mumbled, "What is it Link?"

"Someone's here and he says he knows you guys…" Link replied. "I'd go get your brothers, but they're still in the meeting…"

"Who is it?"

"Why don't you get up and see for yourself?" Bobby asked in amusement.

Alec sat up in surprise and looked over at Bobby with a wide smile. "Bobby!" He stood up, but then immediately sat back down and put his head in his hands.

Bobby moved forward and crouched down next to him and put his hand on Alec's shoulder. "What'd you do to yourself this time?"

"Smacked my head a few times…" Alec mumbled.

"You've got some bad luck with this job," Bobby replied.

"Ghosts really don't like me…"

Bobby shot a look over his shoulder to see if Link had heard. It seemed like Alec didn't even realize that he'd said something strange, but he looked up when Bobby didn't say anything.

He looked over at Link, and then shrugged, "Link, ghosts are real. You can believe me or not, I don't care."

"Really? Cool!" Link said with excitement.

Bobby chuckled and shook his head at Alec, but he just shrugged back.

"You better get on back to the gate," Alec told Link after a moment. "I'll fill you in later on everything supernatural."

Link smiled and nodded, and then ran out of the house.

Bobby gently ran his hand over Alec's head to find the bumps. Alec winced when he found one and Bobby looked around for where an ice pack could have gone. He knew that Sam and Dean wouldn't just leave Alec here without taking care of him first. But he didn't find an ice pack, just a washcloth.

"A ghost did this?" Bobby asked after a minute.

Alec nodded and rubbed his forehead, "Yeah…What time is it anyway?"

"A little after 5," Bobby replied.

"Sam and Dean have been gone a long time…" Alec muttered to himself.

"What are those two up to? Getting into more trouble?" Bobby asked with a smile.

"They're tellin' everyone that ghosts are real…but it must not be going so well…"

Bobby stood up and looked to the door. He wanted to go find Sam and Dean, but he didn't want to leave Alec alone. Especially since he didn't even know where the other two were at.

Alec pushed himself up before Bobby could decide what to do, and started for the door.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" Bobby grumbled.

"I'm gonna go help them out," Alec replied. "You comin' or what old man."

"And to think, I was excited to see you again…" Bobby replied. Alec just smiled back at him, and led the way out the door.

Even though Alec acted like he was fine, he was still walking pretty slowly and Bobby stayed nearby to keep him going. He stopped at one point and leaned against an old light pole.

"You alright?" Bobby asked him after a moment.

"Yeah…just kinda dizzy…" Alec admitted.

Bobby grabbed Alec's arm and started to steer him back to the house. Alec tried to pull his arm away, but ended up just stumbling along.

"You almost had me, but now you're goin' straight back to that sofa," Bobby said. "Don't know why I even fell for that in the first place."

"Bobby…" Alec said with a groan.

"Don't you Bobby me, kid," Bobby growled. "Point me to where your brothers are, and then I'll take care of this by myself."

"No," Alec replied.

"Fine, then I'll just go to every house in this place and find them myself," Bobby stubbornly replied.

"Bobby, I'm fine," Alec complained.

"Kid, you need to start takin' better care of yourself," Bobby said over Alec. "You're not fine and pretendin' like you are is just goin' to make you hurt worse. You Winchesters, always lyin' about your health and doin' more than you should…You are going to go back to bed and you're goin' to get better before you do anything else crazy, understand?"

"Yes sir…" Alec mumbled solemnly.

Bobby stopped suddenly and turned Alec to face him, "I'm not tryin' to yell at you, I just want you to take care of yourself. I know how Sam and Dean are, and you're just like them. Dean one time went a whole week hiding the fact that he had some broken ribs and his Dad didn't find out until they went on a hunt. Dean got tossed into a wall and ended up with a punctured lung because he was trying to act like he was fine."

Alec nodded and Bobby just hoped he got the message.

"Go back to the main road; they should be in the house behind the second one on the left. It's the Mess Hall, probably, that they're meeting in…" Alec said. "If you can't find it, come back and get me and I'll take you there."

"What are you going to do?" Bobby asked suspiciously.

"I'm gonna go back to sleep," Alec replied with a small smirk. "They're probably just arguing anyway, and that'll just give me a headache…"

Bobby smiled and patted Alec on the shoulder. He watched the kid go back the way they had come until he got back to the house. He gave Bobby a little wave before he slipped inside. Bobby chuckled to himself and he just hoped that what he said would stick with Alec. Maybe he could keep one of his boys safe, and then the other two would follow. It was a long shot, but it could happen.

He waited to make sure Alec wasn't going to sneak back out, and then he went the way Alec had directed. He went to a few wrong houses before he found the right one. He could hear raised voices, and he figured that would be the only place Sam and Dean could be.

Bobby cracked open the door and slipped inside without anyone noticing. There were a bunch of people crammed into this one house, but he saw Sam and Dean towards the front. He couldn't believe some of the people he saw in the room. There were normal looking people that looked just like humans, but then there were some that looked more like animals than people. Near Sam and Dean there was a man who looked just like a lizard, and then on the other side of them was a pretty brunette girl.

"Listen, we don't have a way to prove it yet, but if you give us a little time, we will," Dean said from the front.

Bobby rolled his eyes at the oldest Winchester. He had good intentions, but this was not a good way to do this. He decided to walk to the front to try and bail them out of the fire. He saw Sam nudge Dean, and then they were both looking over at him. They looked relieved to see him and they moved to meet him halfway.

"Hey Bobby," Sam greeted, reaching him first. He pulled him in for a quick hug, and then let him go and Dean moved forward.

"Thank God you're here," Dean said with relief, giving him a quick hug. "We're dyin' up there, Bobby."

"That's because you're both a bunch of idjits," Bobby replied. "You don't just get everyone together and announce that ghosts are real like a damn public forum."

"Bobby…" Sam started.

"Not you too. I already got enough of that from your little brother," Bobby grumbled. Sam and Dean looked surprised that he'd talked to Alec, but he spoke before they could, "Yes I talked to Alec. He's back at the house now sleepin' again. I don't know why you boys can't find an easy hunt, but maybe next time you can find a fun one for him."

Dean opened his mouth, but Bobby pointed at him and he closed his mouth again.

"And the only reason you're dyin' up there is because the only proof you've got is your word," Bobby explained.

"We took Max on a hunt and she was backing us up," Dean tried to defend.

"You need actual proof," Bobby replied.

"How are we supposed to get actual proof in here for everyone? It's not like we can bring a ghost in here and prove it to them," Sam said.

Bobby took a deep breath so he didn't start yelling at these two in the middle of everyone. He loved these boys to death, but sometimes they had the thickest skulls of them all. "You have proof," Bobby finally said. Sam and Dean scowled at him in confusion and he shook his head in disbelief. "Last I checked, your girlfriend was tied to a freakin' demon. There's your proof."

* * *

 _More soon..._


	6. Chapter 6

_Sorry it's been forever since I've updated! Last chapter Bobby came in and told the boys what they could do to solve their problem with the transgenics not believing them. Tera and Harper are in this again (back from Seven Devils and Dream On) Tera's a demon and she's tied to Harper and they're on their way to Freak Valley, just to recap. Hope you all like it!_

* * *

"Hey, your phone's ringing," Tera announced.

Harper scowled in her sleep and mumbled, "Thank you, I can hear that…" She was ignoring her phone so she could sleep instead, but Tera was putting an end to that. Tera was driving while she was trying to sleep in the passenger seat.

They'd been hunting together ever since they'd left the Winchesters. They'd stayed with Bobby for a while, but then she had wanted to get back into hunting. Tera had been a lot more helpful than she had ever imagined, and they had actually started to become friends.

"Are you going to answer it or what?" Tera asked.

"I'm sleeping…" Harper replied sleepily.

"I'd answer it, but I'm afraid our friendship would be over," Tera said, and Harper could practically hear her smirk.

"Why's that," Harper slurred.

"Because it's your boyfriend," Tera stated.

Harper shot up and fumbled around for her phone. She couldn't find it anywhere, but then she saw that Tera had it in her hand and was just about to answer it.

"No!" Harper reached for the phone and Tera accidently swerved the car trying to get away from her.

"Hey! I'm driving here!" Tera exclaimed. "Usually I don't care about crashing, but considering how fragile you are, I'm afraid my life depends on my driving skills."

"Give me my phone," Harper said, ignoring what Tera had said.

"No, I think we need to discuss this," Tera replied. "We need rules of the car or something…"

"Give me my phone," Harper said again.

Tera sighed and rolled her eyes before she finally handed Harper her phone. "You're no fun once Dean's in the picture…"

"Shut up," Harper said offhandedly. She was looking at her phone so she could call Dean back. She hadn't heard from him since the Djinn case and she couldn't believe she'd missed his call.

"After you and Dean are done talking about whatever, can you get Sam on the phone?" Tera asked with a smirk.

"No," Harper replied, dialing Dean's number. He answered after the first ring with an easy, "Hey."

"Hey," Harper said back.

"Wow, what a riveting conversation," Tera quipped. "Now I'm pretty glad I didn't answer."

Harper glared over at Tera and waited for a second to see if Dean would say something. He didn't so Harper said, "Um, so what's up?" She felt awkward talking to Dean for some reason; she had never felt awkward around Dean in her life, but now she did. She blamed Tera wholeheartedly for that.

Dean didn't like Tera, and Harper couldn't blame him. She tried to kill him and his brothers and she was a demon, which Dean was practically programmed to hate. But he didn't know her like Harper did. Tera wasn't like other demons and she'd actually saved Harper's life more than once. But that could only be because Tera's life was tied to her own. They were tied together and if one of them died, so would the other.

"Um, what are you doing?" Dean asked after a moment. He sounded awkward too, but he was trying.

Harper glanced over at Tera, and then looked out of the window again, "Just driving…looking for another hunt…what are you doing?"

"This is killing me," Tera whispered.

"We're in Freak Valley…any chance you could come by?" Dean asked.

"Where's Freak Valley at?" Harper asked back.

"Is that supposed to be a real place?" Tera asked. "That sounds fake."

"Shut up," Harper whispered at the same time that Dean said, "I can give you directions. How soon can you get to Seattle?"

"It'll probably be a day," Harper replied.

"Less if I'm drivin'," Tera threw in.

"Ok, I'll text you the directions," Dean said. It was quiet for a minute, and then Dean asked, "Are you doin' ok?"

"Yeah, I'm good…how are you?" Harper asked.

"Please don't get all cute while I'm in the car," Tera said. "There's nowhere for me to go if I feel like throwing up…"

"I'm alright," Dean replied. "How's life with the demon?"

"It's been pretty good. I can tell you all about it once we get there," Harper said.

"Ok," Dean said, and then he said quieter, like he didn't want someone to hear him, "I can't wait to see you."

"I can't wait to see you either," Harper whispered back. Tera groaned even though she was trying to be quiet.

"I'll see ya soon," Dean said before he hung up.

"So, we get to see the boys again," Tera said once Harper hung up. "Finally! Something exciting!"

"Please try your best to not make them mad on purpose," Harper said.

"I would never!" Tera replied, pretending to be affronted by the accusation.

"You're still a demon and the Winchesters still hate demons, so cool it. Especially around Alec," Harper warned. Tera rolled her eyes, but Harper continued, "And whatever your fascination is with Sam, it needs to stop. Dean's not going to allow that to ever happen even if you did have a shot with Sam."

"You can't stop love, Cricket," Tera said with a smirk.

"Just cool it, ok?" Harper asked.

"We'll see," Tera replied.

Harper sighed; this was probably not a good idea.

* * *

Harper was driving now; she thought it would be best if she did the talking instead of Tera. Dean had told her that there would be a guard at the gate and she didn't want to get kicked out of Freak Valley before they even got through the gate.

"Ok, the next idiotic direction is to take a left at the tree that looks like the Whomping Willow?" Tera said in confusion.

"That one was from Sam," Harper said with a small smile. Tera looked over at her so she said, "The Whomping Willow is from Harry Potter. Sam's a Harry Potter nerd, Dean's a Lord of the Rings nerd."

"Well at least Sam's directions are better than Dean's," Tera said after a moment.

"You just said 'the next idiotic direction' and that was Sam's direction," Harper said in amusement.

"I didn't get the reference- Dean's directions are still worse," Tera argued.

"Rainier Avenue is a real street," Harper said. She took the left at the Whomping Willow, and then glanced over at Tera for the next direction.

"Whatever, it's still stupid," Tera replied. "And it says, after you turn at the Whomping Willow, you just go straight until you get to the gate."

"Then we're almost there," Harper said happily.

"You make me sick sometimes," Tera grumbled.

Harper waved her off; she was just happy that she was going to see Dean again.

She drove down the lane, and then slowed when they reached the gate. She looked over at Tera and warned, "Don't say anything." Tera rolled her eyes, but she stayed silent.

Harper rolled down her window and stopped by the guard who popped up, seemingly out of nowhere. He was just a kid, but he had a rifle over his shoulder and he walked with a confidence that clearly showed he had some training.

"What's your name?" The kid asked as he got closer.

"Harper Thompson," She answered, and then she looked over at Tera, "And this is Tera…um, the Winchesters called us…"

"Alright, follow me inside, and then I'll take you to them," he said.

Harper shrugged over to Tera, but slowly followed the kid as he let them in. He led them over to a garage where Harper saw the Impala along with a collection of other cars. She parked next to Dean's car, and then got out with Tera.

"What's your name?" Harper asked the kid as they walked along the street.

"Link," he replied. "Dean said you would be coming. He gave me a head's up this time since I didn't know who his other friend was."

"Are you on guard duty all the time?" Harper asked. Link was leading them through an abandoned suburb. Harper wondered if the transgenics needed some help cleaning this place up.

"For the most part," Link said. "I went on a run a while back, but it kinda went sideways so Max hasn't let me back on a run since then…but that's ok. I don't mind guard duty. I'm the first one to know what's going on usually."

"How old are you anyway?" Harper asked.

"15ish," Link replied. "We don't know our exact ages thanks to Manticore, but that's a pretty close guess." Link turned towards what appeared to be an abandoned, one-story house and said, "Here we are. This is where the Winchesters have been staying."

"Do you wanna come in too?" Harper asked. She was stalling just a little bit; she was nervous for this reunion.

"Nah, I've gotta get back to the gate," Link said. "But it was nice to meet you."

Link walked away from them, and then Tera said, "Jeez, that kid was a chatterbox."

"Shut up," Harper said with a sigh.

"Hey, I was quiet that entire time. I can only be quiet for so long," Tera defended.

Harper sighed again, and then turned and started walking up to the door. She took a deep breath before she knocked, and then she waited a minute. She couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door, so she looked to Tera.

"They're in there, but I don't think they heard you," Tera said. "It sounds like they're sleeping."

"Should I knock again?" Harper asked.

"I vote for breaking in," Tera said with a wicked smile.

"We're not breaking in…" Harper muttered.

"Then I guess you should knock again," Tera said like it was obvious.

Harper glared over at her, but then knocked again, only louder this time. She heard someone fall to the floor and grunt with the impact. It was a few seconds later, and then footsteps were heading towards the door.

"Max, I told you, we need sleep," Dean grumbled as he wrenched open the door. He stopped and his eyes widened when he saw Harper and Tera standing there. He looked like he'd just woken up, but he was still wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"I guess we're earlier than I thought we would be…" Harper said sheepishly. She'd let Tera drive most of the way so it had taken a lot less time than she'd guessed earlier.

Dean stood there for a second, and then he said, "Well, come on in…everyone's still asleep…it was kind of a late night. Surprisingly, not everyone takes the fact that the supernatural is real as well as Alec did. Also, we found out that Bobby already doesn't get along with a few of the inhabitants here…"

"Understatement…" Sam mumbled from across the room. He was lounging in a recliner, still mostly asleep.

Harper glanced around the rest of the room. It was actually well kept; they had furniture and there were no holes in the walls or in the carpet and there was a TV in the room. It was small, but it was on so it worked. It was normal. The outside was just a disguise; she was impressed.

Bobby was sleeping in another chair in the living room with his hat pulled down, over his eyes. Alec was sleeping on the sofa, but it looked like he was scooted far enough back that someone else could sleep on the sofa too.

"Were you sleeping on the sofa?" Harper asked after she finished scanning the room.

Dean ran his hand down his face and nodded, "Alec was annoying me so I made him scoot over and share. We turned on the TV and all of us fell asleep."

"Max's fault…" Sam mumbled again.

"Yeah, it's Max's fault," Dean said in agreement. "She kept us up too late. We went hunting…I guess yesterday and got our asses kicked…and then stayed up forever arguing with everyone. Then Max wanted to come up with a plan on how to convince everyone…Anyway, we finally kicked her and Mole out so we could get some sleep."

"You can go back to sleep," Harper said softly. "We can go exploring or something…"

"Nah, I'm alright…" Dean replied, but he sounded exhausted.

Harper gave him a small smile, and then kissed his jaw. "Go lie down and go back to sleep. I'll come back around in a while and see if you're up."

"What are you gonna do?" Dean asked.

Harper shrugged, "I don't know, see the sights. Maybe we'll run into Max or something."

Dean chuckled and gave her a kiss on the forehead before he started over to the sofa again. "Well, good luck with that…" He lay down on the sofa next to Alec; he was sleeping on one end while Alec was sleeping on the other. It didn't look extremely comfortable, but they seemed to be fine with it.

Harper kept her gaze on them for a moment longer, and then turned back to the door. She pulled Tera along with her and went outside.

"I'm about done being quiet," Tera said once they were outside. "I gave you your moment with your man, but I don't think I can keep this up for much longer."

"Well you can go full on demon here pretty soon," Harper muttered as they walked the deserted streets.

"Wait, you're going to let me show off my demon abilities?" Tera asked in confusion. "I thought you told me to cool it on the way here."

"I told you to cool it around the Winchesters, but why do you think we're here in the first place?" Harper asked.

"To visit the boys," Tera said like it was obvious.

"The boys are trying to convince the transgenics that ghosts are real," Harper relied.

"So I'm the side show in this shin dig," Tera stated. "Let's show off the demon, she won't care…"

"You should be happy," Harper said. "I'm letting you show off."

Tera suddenly pushed Harper up against the closest wall, hard, and held her there. She got right in her face and said, "We might be friends now, but don't think for a second that you're _letting_ me do anything. I'm a demon. I do whatever I want."

"You kill me, you die too," Harper breathed out, struggling against Tera's hold.

"I wouldn't kill you," Tera replied. "But if you get hurt, it doesn't really bother me. Just keep that in mind when you try to boss me around again, understand?"

"I'll do whatever I want," Harper ground out in reply; she was not going to be intimidated by a demon. Harper kneed Tera hard in the thigh; it hurt her more than it hurt Tera, but she caught Tera by surprise and she was released. She whirled around and changed positions with Tera; now she was the one pinning the demon to the wall. "And just because I'm a human, it doesn't mean I'm fragile."

There was a tense silence for a moment, and then Tera broke out into a smirk and said, "Well, look at you Cricket; you do have a spine after all. Color me impressed."

Harper released Tera and started walking down the street again. She didn't wait for Tera to catch up, but she knew she would. They were still tied together and Tera would have to start walking pretty soon before they ran out of slack to their tie.

Harper's heart was pounding; she hadn't fought with Tera like that for a while now and she'd almost forgotten that Tera was a demon. That was dangerous.

Tera caught up with her after a few seconds and said, "Cricket, I'm glad we had that talk. I feel like we've grown closer now because of it."

"I'm so glad you feel that way," Harper replied sarcastically.

"Oh, c'mon-"

"Don't talk to me right now, I'm still mad at you," Harper said.

"This is the worst part about being tied together," Tera said. Harper started to tell her to shut up, but Tera cut her off. "I'm not talking to you; I'm talking to myself…out loud. Anyway, back to where I left off. The worst part of being tied together is when you've just been fighting and you really want to storm off, but you can't because you're tied together. You know what I mean?" Harper didn't answer her so she asked again, "You know what I mean? Jeez I feel like I'm talking to myself here."

"You were supposed to be talking to yourself since I'm not talking to you," Harper pointed out.

"Technicalities," Tera waved off.

* * *

"This place is huge," Harper muttered as they walked to the next house. They had pretty much walked around the entire place, and they still hadn't found Max.

"Or maybe Max doesn't actually exist," Tera said unhelpfully.

"She exists, we just haven't found her yet," Harper replied.

"And no one else seems to know where she is. That's convenient…"

Harper rolled her eyes as she walked up to the next house's door. She knocked; they only had to wait a moment before the door was thrown open.

Harper's eyes widened in shock at seeing a large lizard man glaring down at her from the doorway.

"Holy shit, that thing's gruesome," Tera said.

The lizard man growled and Harper reprimanded, "Tera!"

"What? It's true."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Lizard man demanded.

"Umm…my name's Harper and this is Tera," Harper said quietly.

"What's wrong with you?" Tera asked with a sharp look to Harper. "You fight monsters without blinking an eye and all of a sudden you come face to face with a grumpy lizard and you're suddenly being weird."

"Shut up," Harper replied.

"Mole, close the door or get out of the way!" A female called out from inside the house.

"The lizard's name is Mole?" Tera whispered to Harper. "Am I the only one that finds this hilarious?"

"What do you want?" Mole asked slowly, like they didn't speak English.

"I'm a friend of the Winches-" Harper started, but Mole cut her off.

"That's not gonna help you much. They're not in my good graces at the moment," Mole grumbled.

A pretty, brunette girl suddenly popped up next to Mole. She glared at him, and then looked at Harper and Tera. "Hi, I'm Max," She introduced. She held her hand out to Harper and Tera and they shook in greeting.

"I'm Harper and this is Tera," Harper replied.

Max's eyes lit up in recognition and she pushed Mole a little, "This is who Dean said was going to come."

"Great," Mole grumbled, and then he turned away from the door.

Max motioned for them to come in, and Harper and Tera followed her inside. It wasn't quite like the Winchester's house; this one had a bunch of computers in it and looked more like a command center than a home.

"This is Dix, Luke, Gem," Max said as they walked through the room. She led them back to a hallway and into another room. This one had two sofas in it and a broken desk in the middle of the room. Max looked back at them with wide eyes and her cheeks were a light shake of pink. She quickly closed the door and led them through the main room again and back outside.

"Sorry about that. I forgot about a little mishap earlier…" Max said as they walked down the street.

"Sex on the desk?" Tera guessed as they walked.

"What?" Max asked, slightly panicked.

Tera laughed, "It was. You had sex on the desk and it broke. Was it Alec?"

Harper elbowed Tera and smiled at Max, "Sorry, she doesn't have a filter."

"So, are you the demon?" Max asked Tera bluntly.

"Guilty," Tera replied with a wide smile. "Though I prefer Queen of the Damned."

"Tera," Harper hissed, then she turned back to Max and said, "She's joking."

Max didn't look like she believed her, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead she asked Harper, "So you're friends with Sam and Dean?"

"Yeah, we've been friends for a long time," Harper replied.

"More than friends," Tera threw in with a smirk.

"Anyway," Harper said, "What about you? What's your story?"

"Well, I'm a transgenic, like Alec," Max started. "I was at Manticore until I was 9, and then my unit escaped. I went to Seattle and lived there until I got recaptured by Manticore, which is when I met Alec. I escaped again, but then I went back and let everyone else out. It was crazy for a while, but then we tried to make a stand. That didn't work out so well…Alec stayed back to let us get away when we were invaded. I thought he was dead, but really, Sam and Dean found him. Then I sort of started this place up on accident and now it's this."

"Wow," Harper said once Max was done. "That's way more than I ever got out of the boys."

"Really?" Max asked in amusement.

"Yeah," Harper said with a laugh. "When I asked Alec about himself all he said was that he was Dean's clone and he had some funky DNA with a lot of perks."

Max nodded, "Yeah that sounds like Alec."

"That's all he told you?" Tera asked in surprise. "He told me a lot more than that."

"Only because he didn't know you were a demon at the time," Harper replied.

"And I might have played him a little bit," Tera said.

"And you wonder why he hates you," Harper said. Max looked over at her in curiosity so Harper explained, "Tera had Alec possessed and made him nearly kill Sam and Dean and almost killed him too."

Max stopped and spun around to face Harper and Tera. She glared at Tera, and then growled, "What?"

Tera looked over at Harper, "You just had to go there, didn't you, Cricket?"

Harper shot back a sarcastic smile, but didn't say anything.

Max stalked closer to Tera, "You had Alec possessed?"

Tera huffed, "I'm a demon. It's what we do."

"He nearly died because of you?"

"Hey, it's all in the past," Tera waved off. "He's somewhat over it. I mean he still wants to kill me, but he hasn't yet."

"I understand the feeling," Max replied menacingly.

"But, unfortunately, I'm off limits for the whole, let's kill the demon thing," Tera said with a smirk. "You can't kill me without killing her." Max frowned so Tera said, "We're tied together thanks to a spell from a witch." Max looked between them like she didn't believe either of them.

"Hey!" Someone suddenly called out behind them and they all three turned around. It was Sam who was behind them.

"Hey Sam," Harper called back.

"Oh somebody catch me, I think I might faint," Tera said quietly.

"I've been looking for you guys everywhere," Sam said as he walked closer to the three of them.

"This place is a maze. We just found Max a little bit ago," Harper replied.

"He's even more beautiful than I remember," Tera whispered, and Harper ignored her. Tera looked back to Sam and said louder, "Hey Baby, did you miss me?"

Sam looked uncomfortable, but then he looked over at Harper and Max, "Umm, we're all more awake now if you guys want to come back…"

"Yes we do," Max quickly replied. She pushed past Harper and Tera and walked down the road. Sam gave Harper a small smile before he followed Max.

"I think that went well," Tera said. "He really likes me."

"You just keep dreaming," Harper replied in amusement. She pushed Tera to the side, and then the two of them went after Sam and Max.

* * *

 _More (hopefully) soon..._


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry it's been a long time! Lot's to do and unfortunately not enough time to write. But I did finally finish this chapter! I'm bringing back some familiar faces for us, but in this timeline the boys don't know some of them, so just a head's up. Hopefully you guys like it!_

* * *

Alec's head still hurt when he woke up again. It was more of a dull throb instead of the intense pounding from before, so at least that was a plus. He turned a little on the sofa and was surprised when he actually bumped against someone.

Alec opened his eyes a crack and saw that Dean was sitting up on the edge of the sofa. He'd forgotten that Dean had made him share. Alec hadn't minded really; he honestly hadn't even noticed.

Dean turned slightly to look over at him when he'd bumped against his back. "Hey kiddo, you feelin' better?" Dean asked when he saw that he was awake.

Alec nodded and slowly sat up next to his older brother.

Dean gently grabbed his chin and turned his head to face him. "You look a little better, that's for sure…"

Alec swatted Dean's hand away and grumbled, "I'm fine…"

Dean rolled his eyes, but he didn't try to check him over again, which he was grateful for. Alec loved how much his brothers cared about him, but he could only take so much of it at one time. It was still like a shock to his system, all of this concern and care for him. He wasn't used to it, and he didn't know if he would ever be used to it.

"Where's Sam?" Alec asked as he scanned the room. Bobby was sitting in one of the chairs, but Sam wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"He went to look for Harper," Dean replied.

Alec scowled when he heard that. He liked Harper, but he didn't like who she brought with her. He'd tried to get over Tera having him possessed and making him almost kill his brothers, but he wasn't that good at the whole forgive and forget thing. That wasn't high on Manticore's training to do list.

"And yes, Tera's here too," Dean said when Alec didn't say anything. "As much as I don't like it, there's nothing I can do."

Alec just nodded in reply.

"But it won't be so bad," Dean tried to reassure. "At least she'll help us convince everyone that this stuff is real…"

"Yeah," Alec agreed. "That would be better than taking everyone on their own hunts."

"I was thinkin' 'bout that earlier," Bobby suddenly chimed in. Alec and Dean both looked over at him so he said, "I know a lot of hunters, so if this doesn't work, plan B could be to get them in here and actually take some of 'em on hunts."

"That's not a bad idea," Dean agreed. "We might actually need to do that, and not even as a plan B…"

"What do you mean?" Alec asked.

"We're gonna have to train them somehow and taking them out to do it is the easiest way," Dean explained. "If we had more hunters involved, it wouldn't take very long to teach everyone the basics, and then take the ones that want to on hunts."

"Alright, I'll start callin' a few and see if they'd wanna come up here," Bobby said. He slowly got up and walked out of the room. Alec could still hear him a few seconds later, talking to someone on the phone. He didn't bother to listen though, it wouldn't really matter since Bobby would tell them in a little bit anyway.

Alec dropped his head into his hands, trying to ease the remainder of his headache. Dean rubbed his back, but he seemed tentative about it, like he was afraid that Alec was going to tell him to stop. But he didn't; it actually felt pretty good, and the repetitive motion was actually kind of soothing.

"Dean, d'you think everyone'll believe us because of Tera?" Alec asked after a moment.

"I hope so," Dean replied. "But sometimes people just don't want to believe it, and there's nothin' we can do about that."

"Not even if they have proof?"

"Not even then. But most of 'em will believe with proof. Some of 'em will just refuse to believe it to be difficult."

It was quiet for a moment, and then Alec asked, "Are you still mad at Harper?"

Dean chuckled, "No, I'm not mad at Harper. I can never stay mad at her for very long. Besides, she just did what I would've done if you or Sam were missing. A demon wouldn't've been my first choice, but it got the job done."

"Really?" Alec asked curiously.

Dean nodded, "Yeah, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you or Sam. You're my family. You're all I've got."

Alec gave Dean a small smile and was about to tell him that he felt the same when the door to their house was suddenly being pushed open. Sam walked through the door, then Max, and then Harper and Tera. Max and Harper both smiled at Alec and Dean while Tera kept her gaze locked on Sam.

Max walked over and sat next to Alec and put her hand on his knee. "You ok?" Max asked quietly. Alec smiled at her and nodded.

Sam looked Alec over from where he was standing; he apparently decided that he was fine because he looked over at Dean after a moment and asked, "Where's Bobby?"

Dean nodded his head in the direction that Bobby had disappeared and said, "He's back there making some calls." Harper walked over as Dean said this and sat on the other side of him. Sam moved further into the room and Tera walked with him.

Sam shot a look over at Tera and she smiled innocently back at him. Sam made a show of walking over to one of the armchairs; he sat down and made sure there was no room for Tera.

Tera rolled her eyes and went over to sit on the arm of the sofa, next to Harper. "He's just playing hard to get," Tera whispered to Harper, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Sam blushed and Alec couldn't help his chuckle.

Max leaned against his side and Alec wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. He kissed her temple, but pulled back when Tera made a sound of disgust.

"It wouldn't be so disgusting if _I_ had someone to cuddle with," Tera said. She looked pointedly at Sam and winked at him.

Dean looked at Tera and frowned, just now picking up that something was weird. "You wanna cuddle with Sam?" Dean asked in confusion.

"You sure are slow on the uptake," Tera said.

"She has some kind of weird fascination with him," Harper whispered to Dean. "I told her to stop, but she won't."

Dean thought about it for a second; he didn't seem to like it, but then he glanced over at Sam and saw how uncomfortable he was with this situation. "Looks like you still have the worst luck with women, Sammy," Dean finally said with a small smile.

"Well I got Rufus, Garth, Ellen, and Jo to all come here," Bobby said as he walked into the room. "I left messages for Irv, Rudy, Daryl, and Annie. I still need to call a few more, but that's what we've got so far."

Bobby stopped suddenly when he saw that it wasn't just Alec and Dean anymore in the room.

"I found them," Sam said to break the silence.

"Obviously," Bobby grumbled.

"You got who to come here for what?" Max asked in confusion.

"Max, they're hunters," Dean said. "If we get people to actually believe us, then they're gonna need training and the five of us can't take all of you on hunts. That's too much for just us."

"Who are they again?" Max asked. "The ones that have already agreed."

"Well, we just know Ellen and Jo," Sam said.

"Mother/daughter hunter combo," Dean threw in.

"Rufus is an old friend of mine. He's retired, but I think this'll get him out of retirement. Garth is a fairly new hunter, and honestly I think he's gonna get himself killed, but this'll be good practice for him," Bobby said.

"He's a new hunter?" Alec asked.

"Used to be a dentist," Bobby said, rolling his eyes. "Actually killed the tooth fairy as his first hunt…"

"Cool," Alec said with a smile.

"So, how are we going to convince everyone that ghosts are real?" Max asked.

"Well, Tera's a demon," Dean explained. "Demons do a lot of weird shit, so if she does some of that, then people should be convinced…"

"But no doing that stupid demon force thing on any of us, got it?" Alec suddenly demanded in annoyance. He hated it when Tera did that. He remembered all too clearly the fights he'd had with her when he was also possessed by a demon. He'd hated it and he didn't want it to happen again.

Tera smirked back at him, "Oh c'mon Alec, you know that was fun. Us fighting together was actually a challenge for me."

Alec felt Max tense next to him. He just grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Mole suddenly barged through the door making all of them jump in surprise. He had a shotgun resting on his shoulder and a cigar in his mouth. He looked pissed, but Alec thought he always looked that way. "What're y'all doin'? Havin' a dinner party?" Mole grumbled.

"Great, the lizard's back," Bobby said under his breath.

"Don't you start again, old geezer," Mole growled. "I had enough of you last time."

"Feelings mutual," Bobby said, glaring at Mole.

"Careful Bobby, he's armed," Alec warned with a smirk.

"Better watch yer mouth Pretty Boy. I can aim at you just as easily as him," Mole replied.

Dean glared at Mole, "Better think twice about who you're aimin' at, Mole. Otherwise I might make you into a nice pair of boots. I hear lizard skin's all the rage…"

"Shut it Winchester. I'm mad at you too."

"If this is about not giving you proof, you're wrong," Dean said. "I have your proof right here. Besides that, you said that you'd believe us if we announced it to everyone. We did that, and you still don't believe us."

"I wanna see this proof," Mole said.

Everyone looked to Tera. She sighed like this was a lot of work for her, but then stood up. Her eyes were normal for a second, and then they flicked to black. Max gasped in surprise, but Mole actually brought his shotgun around and aimed it at Tera.

Alec reacted without even thinking. He jumped up, blurred over to Mole, and tackled him to the ground.

Sam and Harper moved at the same time to try and tackle Tera, but Sam got to her first and forced her to the ground. Dean, Bobby, and Max jumped up and started to Alec and Mole, but none of them reached them in time.

Mole fired just as Alec tackled him, but the shot went wide and hit the far wall. Alec ears were ringing from the gun going off right next to his ear, but he ignored that and ripped the shotgun out of Mole's hands.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?!" Alec yelled at Mole as he sprung back to his feet. "You don't go around shootin' people just because they freak you out! 'Cause if that was the case, you'd be dead for sure!"

"Ooo Sam, this is so unexpected," Tera said. Sam was on top of her still, but he immediately started to get up. Tera stopped his progress though and said, "No, wait, just a few more seconds…"

Sam ignored her and stood up and she grumbled, but stood next to him after just a moment.

Mole got to his feet and pointed at Tera and yelled, "That's not natural!"

"No kidding," Alec deadpanned back. "That's what we've been trying to tell you. There are things out there that are supernatural and we hunt them."

"I feel like an 'I told you so' is in order," Dean muttered. He had made it about halfway across the room. Alec saw him quickly look him over to make sure he was alright. Dean met his gaze and Alec nodded his reassurance that he was fine.

"What is it?" Mole asked.

"I find that offensive," Tera said with a smirk. "I am not an it." She wasn't even fazed that she'd nearly been blasted out of existence. Normally, getting hit with a bullet at that range wouldn't bother her, but it would probably kill Harper, which would actually kill Tera.

"Shut up," Alec, Dean, and Sam all said at once.

"She's a demon," Harper said after a moment.

"She died, went to Hell, came back as a demon, and is now possessing someone," Sam explained.

"How do you kill a demon?" Mole asked, looking anywhere but at Tera.

"Normally, you exorcise demons and they go back to Hell," Dean started. "But with Tera that doesn't work. We had a Colt that could kill anything, but we've used all the bullets."

"Besides, you can't hurt Tera, otherwise you'll hurt Harper who is a human," Alec said.

"Why?" Mole asked with a frown, clearly confused with the whole situation.

"I got a witch to tie us together so she couldn't get away and do whatever she wanted," Harper said.

"Witches are real too?" Mole asked in disbelief.

"Just think that everything is real," Sam said.

"Well, not Santa Clause," Dean threw in. Sam shot him a bitchface, before he looked back at Mole.

"So, you believe us now, right?" Alec asked when Mole didn't say anything else.

Mole chewed on his cigar in thought, and then finally nodded, "I guess I have no reason not to…"

"Great! Now we only have 186 more to convince," Alec said.

* * *

It was so much easier now to get everyone to believe them. Some of them still weren't convinced from the black eye thing, but once Tera demon forced one of them, usually Sam or Dean, they believed them after that. And if they still weren't convinced, Tera would push _them_ across the room. Alec refused to be part of the demonstration; he'd had enough of demons to last him a lifetime, but Sam and Dean agreed to do it as long as she didn't go overboard.

It'd been a couple of days; they had a lot of transgenics to convince, and they wanted to do it in small groups this time. Bobby had thought of that and Sam and Dean had readily agreed with him. They were still convincing some; it took a little while to show them that it was real, and then actually explain it to them.

"C'mon Kid," Bobby suddenly said, walking up and clapping him on the shoulder. "You're comin' with me for a minute."

"Where are we going?" Alec asked, looking away from Lilly, Ro, and Peach getting introduced into the supernatural world.

"Ellen and Jo are almost here. We're gonna go to the gate and let 'em in," Bobby said. Alec looked over at his brothers, uncertain if he should leave them or not. "They can handle this without you for a few minutes," Bobby said, practically reading his mind.

Alec finally shrugged and followed Bobby out of the house they were in. They'd decided to go door to door so they wouldn't miss anyone.

"How's your head?" Bobby asked as they walked down the deserted street.

"I'm alright," Alec said, shrugging again.

Bobby snorted in disbelief. He was quiet for a minute, and then asked, "You like hunting so far? It's been a while since I've seen you boys…or talked to ya."

"I guess I like it…" Alec said with his head down. "…I like that we help people anyway…"

"If you don't like hunting, Sam and Dean won't make you go," Bobby quickly said. He easily picked up that Alec felt hesitant about something.

"No, no! I like going on the hunts! I don't like sitting around and doing nothing!" Alec said; he didn't want Bobby going to Sam and Dean and telling them he didn't like hunting, then he'd never get to hunt again. He really did like hunting, he was just afraid for his brothers. Hunting was dangerous, and even though he knew Sam and Dean could take care of themselves, they'd also had some close calls.

"Kid, you're gonna have ta spell it out for me, I don't wanna play a guessing game right now," Bobby grumbled.

"It's just dangerous is all," Alec finally mumbled.

"I see," Bobby said, "You're afraid for Sam and Dean." Alec looked over at Bobby in surprise and Bobby chuckled. "If I know anything about Winchesters, it's that they don't care about their own safety, but their brothers'."

"I just…I don't know what I'd do if they died. Or even if just one of 'em died," Alec admitted.

"I'll tell ya somethin', Kid," Bobby said, "Those two won't _let_ each other die. Dean's had two close calls in the past two years alone and Sam did everything in his power to bring his brother back. And when Sam went missin', I was scared to death of what Dean would do if Sam was dead. He woulda followed in his Daddy's footsteps and sold his soul for Sam's life."

"What?!" Alec asked in shock. "You can do that?!"

"Now don't be gettin' any bad ideas here," Bobby warned. "I'm not tellin' ya more than that, just in case."

"Bobby," Alec practically whined, but Bobby stopped him from saying anything else.

"And now we're at the gate," Bobby said. "Ellen and Jo should hopefully be pullin' up any minute now…"

"Hey guys!" Link suddenly said, appearing from the bushes. Alec smiled when Bobby jumped and waved at Link for him to come over. "What're you guys doin'?" Link asked curiously.

"We have more friends coming in to teach you all how to hunt," Alec said.

"Cool!" Link said with a wide smile. "I heard there was a demon here, is that true?"

Alec nodded, "Yeah, but don't get too close to her. She's dangerous, ok?"

"Ok," Link easily replied.

"We're gonna have some more friends coming by soon, so keep an eye out," Alec said and Link nodded.

"There they are," Bobby said as a car suddenly came into view. They slowed down and waited for Link to open the gate, and then stopped next to Bobby and Alec. "Follow us and we'll take ya to the garage."

Alec could see a pretty blonde girl sitting in the passenger seat. She was looking at him curiously, but then Ellen leaned across the seat and gave him a smile before she nodded to Bobby.

Alec and Bobby led the way over to the garage and Ellen parked. She and Jo got out and were standing next to them only a minute later.

"It's good to see you again," Bobby said as he and Ellen hugged. Bobby gave Jo a hug next, and then both women stood back and looked at Alec. "Jo, this is Alec. Alec, Jo."

"I've heard a lot about you," Jo said in greeting. Alec couldn't tell if it was good things or bad. Ellen had been there with them at the Devil's Gate; she hadn't like him at first, but he had hoped she'd been ok with him by the time she left.

"Hopefully not all bad," Alec said with a small smile.

"Well, you are Dean's clone," Jo said, smirking at him.

"Young lady, the same rules apply to him that you've got for the older one," Ellen said threateningly. Jo rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything. Ellen looked to him next and said, "And you better just keep those smiles to yourself young man."

"Don't worry Ellen, he's got a girlfriend," Bobby said, chuckling at the surprised look on Alec's face.

"In that case, I need to meet this girlfriend of yours," Ellen said, sounding like the mom that Alec never had. "Make sure she's good for you." Alec couldn't help his smile at that; he thought it was nice that Ellen seemed to care that much about him and he thought it would be funny to see Ellen with Max.

"Well, c'mon," Bobby said. "The boys are probably done convincing the last lot and they'll probably head to the house here in a bit." They all started walking towards the house with Bobby in the lead.

"Who else did you get to come, Bobby," Ellen asked as they walked.

"Rufus and Garth for sure. Daryl said he'd get here after his hunt in Nebraska and Rudy and Annie are maybe's," Bobby replied. "Haven't heard back from Irv yet and I haven't gotten around to callin' more…"

"Well, we've got a good start," Ellen said. "And if they pick up hunting as fast as you say Alec did, then we shouldn't have a problem."

"Alec's a natural," Bobby said with pride and Alec couldn't hide his smile at the praise. "And has been since his first hunt. With hardly any trainin' at all."

"Then it should be a piece of cake," Ellen replied.

They walked in silence for a little bit, but then Alec suddenly realized something. "Um…I should warn you, not everyone looks entirely…human…"

Ellen chuckled, "We know, Bobby's already told us."

"Yeah, definitely watch out for Mole, he's a trigger-happy grump," Bobby said.

"That's rich comin' from you," Alec teased. "I thought you two would definitely get along since you're exactly alike."

"Just wait until Rufus gets here," Ellen muttered under her breath.

"You better watch it, Kid," Bobby threatened.

"I'm not scared of you, old man," Alec shot back.

"Sam and Dean aren't teachin' you anything," Bobby grumbled.

"Sure they are," Alec said happily. "They taught me hunting and prank wars."

Bobby rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"You weren't kidding," Jo whispered to her mom. "He's just like Dean."

"Just wait until they're in the same room together," Ellen whispered back.

* * *

Alec led the way into their house. He realized a little late that he was going to have to see if Max could get another house for the hunters that would be staying with them for a while. Alec figured they could make it work with what they had, but it would be more comfortable if they had a few extra beds.

Even with Harper, Bobby, and Tera, they'd had to squeeze. Harper slept with Dean, Bobby took over Alec's room, Tera slept on the sofa, and Alec either slept in Sam's bed, with Max, or at the office in Command.

No one was at the house yet, so Alec figured Sam and Dean had gotten stuck talking to someone.

"Wow," Jo drew out. "From the outside this place looked like a real fixer-upper…"

"Yeah…we like to keep a low profile…" Alec muttered. "If this place looks like it's not being lived in, then people shouldn't bother us."

"Smart," Ellen said, looking around the room.

The door was suddenly being opened again and Sam, Dean, Harper, and Tera were all walking in.

"Hey, we wondered where you went," Dean said when he spotted Alec.

"Bobby took me along to bring Ellen and Jo in," Alec said.

"Hey Harper," Ellen greeted.

"Hey Ellen, Jo," Harper returned.

"You know Harper?" Alec asked, surprised.

"It's a small world and we used to own a Roadhouse where hunters stopped by," Ellen explained to him. Alec remembered now seeing the burned down Roadhouse. He hadn't realized it at the time and since they'd been looking for Sam, there wasn't much of a chance for anyone to explain. "Not too many women hunters so we kept in touch," Ellen continued.

"Who's who?" Tera asked, drawing everyone's attention. "No wait, let me guess. The older one's Ellen. Am I right?"

"Um, yes," Ellen replied slowly, not sure what to make of Tera.

Dean sighed, "This is Tera. Please don't shoot her."

"Why would we shoot her?" Jo asked in confusion.

"We need a sign or something to explain all of this," Dean said to Sam. "I'm getting tired of telling this to everyone."

"Tera's a demon, but she's tied to Harper," Sam explained patiently. "So you can't kill her, or else you'll kill Harper."

"Now what have you gotten yourself into?" Ellen asked Harper, anger tinting her tone. "And why is this the first I've heard of it?"

"Sorry Ellen," Harper said. "It's been kinda crazy…"

"Alec, we're gonna need to call Max," Dean said while Ellen chastised Harper. "We're gonna need more bed space."

"I know," Alec replied. "I was gonna call her."

"You don't wanna go see her?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"I'd probably forget what I was gonna ask her," Alec said with a smirk and Dean chuckled.

"So, should they meet everyone now or wait until the others get here?" Dean asked Bobby after a moment.

"Rufus and Garth shouldn't be too long," Bobby said. "Might as well wait 'til they get here before we do anything."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Dean said.

Alec walked a little ways away so he could call Max. She needed to know that people were starting to get here anyway.

"Go for Max," she answered after a couple rings.

"Hey Maxie," Alec said with a smile.

"Why are you calling instead of coming to find me?" Max asked, slightly annoyed.

"Because we both know what happens when I do that and I still haven't had time to replace what we broke last time," Alec replied.

"What do you want?" Max asked.

"So grouchy today," Alec teased.

"Alec," Max growled.

"A couple of friends are here and a few more should get here soon," Alec said. "I don't know if you have any more houses, but it's gotten to be a tight fit around here."

"I didn't even think about that," Max said to herself. "Alright, I'll work something out. Anything else you want?"

"Where are you sleeping tonight?" Alec asked with a smile.

She huffed in annoyance, but then said, "I'll be at my place."

"Alright, see ya later," Alec said, and then he hung up.

* * *

 _More (hopefully) soon..._


	8. Chapter 8

Sam practically jumped at the chance to let the new guy, Garth, into Freak Valley. He had to get out of his house before he went crazy. Tera kept following him around as much as she could and they had way more people in there than Sam was used to. He was used to just him, Dean, and Alec.

"Hey Sam, wait up," Dean called out, running to catch up to him. Sam stopped and waited for Dean. "It's a mad house in there…"

"I know," Sam agreed. "It hasn't even been a whole day and I already feel crowded."

"Not to mention that there's at least two more people on the way," Dean muttered. "Can't blame Alec for kickin' out at the first chance he got."

"Yeah, he doesn't really like crowds all that much," Sam said.

"And he doesn't like all the attention," Dean threw in. "Ellen's decided to practically adopt him. She won't stop fussin' over him."

Sam chuckled, "We'll need to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get kidnapped. The kid's too charming without even trying."

"He can't help it, it's in his blood," Dean said with a smile.

Sam laughed and pushed Dean to the side. Dean laughed too and tried to push Sam back, but Sam dodged out of the way before he could.

"Bitch," Dean said.

"Jerk," Sam instantly replied. Dean laughed as they started walking again.

"So this Garth guy…" Dean said after a moment. "Any idea who he is?"

"Bobby said he was a new hunter," Sam said. "That's all I really know…"

"Think he actually ganked the tooth fairy?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged, "Maybe…I didn't think the tooth fairy even existed."

"That's because I told you it didn't," Dean said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, just like Santa Clause," Sam replied, scowling at Dean.

Dean laughed at him, but they both sobered as they drew closer to the gate. It actually wasn't Link at the gate, which surprised Sam. The few times he'd been there, Link was always the one at the gate.

"Hey Sweep," Dean greeted as they walked up. Sam was always impressed that Dean knew practically everyone here. But Sam actually knew Sweep too; she was one of the hostages that they had saved the last time they were there.

"Hi guys," Sweep replied. "What're you two doing here?"

"We've got another visitor comin' in," Dean said.

"These visitors are…hunters?" Sweep said uncertainly.

"Yup," Sam and Dean answered at the same time.

"And you all will teach us how to kill monsters?"

"Yup," they said again.

"Good," Sweep said. "Cause that girl with the black eyes was freaky."

"She likes to freak people out on purpose," Dean said. He glanced away from Sweep though when the sound of a car drew closer.

An old, beat up Ford Ranchero drove up to them and stopped at the gate. Sam looked over at Dean and saw that he was just as curious about who this Garth guy was. Sweep opened the gate and Sam and Dean moved to the car to get a better look.

The passenger window opened and together they leaned forward. They both took a step back and frowned when they saw Garth.

"Hey guys," Garth said happily. "I'm Garth." From what they could see, Garth was a skinny dude and was the furthest thing from a hunter.

Sam shook himself out of his shock before Dean did and slowly said, "Um, I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean."

"Cool. Where should I go fellas?" Garth asked.

"There's a garage…" Dean said, sort of pointing behind him.

"I'll follow you," Garth said with a decisive nod.

Sam pushed Dean forward to get him moving and they both started to lead Garth to the garage. Garth parked, and it was even more shocking when he got out of the car. He was gangly, he wore normal hunter clothes, but instead of boots, he wore converse.

"So you two are hunters?" Garth asked as he fell into step with them.

"Yeah…" Dean said.

"Me too," Garth said. "Just got into it really. Believe it or not, I used to be a dentist, but the tooth fairy attacked my office and that's how I got into hunting. She was killin' my clients left and right, it was insane."

Sam looked over at Dean and Dean shrugged back at him. They were both confused by this guy.

"This place is dope!" Garth suddenly said with a wide smile. Dean shot a sideways glance over at Garth; the outside of Freak Valley was a dump. It looked like that on purpose, but no one thought it was 'dope'.

"Just wait 'til you see the inside," Dean muttered.

Sam suddenly turned at the sound of footsteps running towards them. Alec rounded the corner and looked around for a moment before his eyes landed on Sam and Dean. He brightened instantly and jogged towards Dean.

Garth stopped when Alec appeared and his eyebrows rose when Alec got closer. "Whoa! Twins?" Garth asked in surprise, glancing between Dean and Alec.

Dean scowled over at Garth, and then turned his attention to Alec.

Alec slowed; he scowled at Garth, his look identical to Dean's, and said shortly, "Clone." Then he looked back to Dean, kind of ignoring Garth, and quickly asked, "Can I borrow the car?"

Dean's eyebrows drew together in suspicion, "For what?"

"Bobby said someone needed to go get some liquor for this guy Rufus otherwise he'll be a pain in the ass," Alec replied. Then he gave Dean a wide smile and said, "And I volunteered."

"You need to make a special trip just for some liquor?" Dean asked skeptically. "We have liquor here."

"It's his favorite or something. Bobby said he won't stick around if we don't have his liquor," Alec explained.

"Do you even know what kind?" Dean asked.

Alec halfheartedly glared back at Dean, "Of course I know what kind. Can I borrow the car or what?"

Dean hesitated for just a second longer, and then he pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Keep her under the speed limit and I want her back in once piece, understand?"

Alec rolled his eyes, but a smile was tugging at his lips. He reached out and grabbed the keys from Dean. He fake saluted to him before he took off towards the garage.

Dean stood frozen in place as Alec backed the Impala out of the garage. He stayed frozen until the Impala was completely out of sight. Sam patted Dean on the shoulder and tried to hide his smirk, "I'm sure he'll bring her back just fine. You worry too much."

Dean glared at Sam and stomped off in the direction of their house. Sam smiled over at Garth, and then followed his brother.

"So, who was that?" Garth asked as he caught up with Sam and Dean.

"Our pain in the ass little brother," Dean grumbled.

Sam chuckled. He glanced at Dean, and then back to Garth and said, "Alec. He's a transgenic, but he's also Dean's clone. We found him almost a year ago and he's been with us ever since."

"Awesome," Garth replied with a smile.

Dean kept walking; Sam figured he would probably be grumpy until his Baby was back safe and sound. Alec had taken the car out before and Dean had been fine with it, but sometimes Dean got overprotective of his car.

Sam also figured Dean was a little nervous about Alec going out to Seattle by himself. The cops would probably recognize him if they saw him and there were still transgenic haters out there. They'd encountered that outside of Seattle so the fact that they were in the middle of everything, just made it that much more dangerous for Alec.

"I should've just gone with him," Dean grumbled under his breath.

"He'll be fine. He'll be back before you know it," Sam tried to reassure.

Dean stopped and turned to face him. "Sam, half of Seattle's after him and I let him go off to get some liquor. We don't even know if he's 21 or not! How's he gonna get liquor with that baby face?"

Sam tried to stop his chuckle. Dean's protective instincts were in full swing and there was probably nothing Sam could say to bring him back, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try. "Dean, Alec can take care of himself. He's a super soldier remember? And I'm pretty sure he was drinking long before we came along and it's not hard for him to get his way."

Dean thought about it for a second. He looked like he wanted to say more, but his eyes shifted over to Garth. Sam nearly groaned; he'd forgotten Garth was around and he was surprised that Dean had said as much as he did.

Dean turned and started walking again. Sam sighed; he was starting to feel a little nervous about Alec leaving too. Dean's worry was rubbing off on him, but they couldn't do anything about it now. They just had to trust that Alec would call them if he needed help.

He shouldn't be worrying in the first place; he knew Alec could take care of himself. He'd just gotten used to looking out for Alec. His little brother was just as reckless as his big brother, possibly even more so. Alec had a bad habit of actually looking for trouble. This simple trip of going to buy a bottle of liquor could easily turn into a disaster.

"Sam, I'm sure Alec'll be ok," Garth said hesitantly.

Sam shook himself out of his worry and looked back at Garth. "…Yeah…he'll be ok…"

Sam and Garth quickly caught up to Dean. They were at their house now and Sam wasn't sure if he should feel relieved that he'd have a distraction from worrying about Alec or bummed that he'd have to go back inside the full house again.

Dean had already walked in and Sam saw him walk right over to Harper. Jo's eyes were following Dean, but she looked away once he got to Harper.

Sam could suddenly feel someone staring at him. He scanned the room until he saw Tera gazing back at him. She smiled at him when his eyes landed on her, but he quickly shifted his gaze away. Ellen and Jo were now looking at him and Garth expectantly.

"Um, this is Garth," Sam introduced, then he turned to Garth and pointed out, "That's Ellen, Jo, Harper, and Tera. Just a head's up, Tera's a demon, but she's off limits."

"Sam, I love it when you get all possessive over me," Tera said with a smirk. Sam looked away from her, uncomfortable and not really sure what he could say to that.

"Just try not to kill her," Dean said over his shoulder. Then he mumbled, "No matter how much you want to…"

Garth smiled though and nodded, taking it all in. He didn't seem that concerned with the fact that Tera was a demon, but so far, Sam thought Garth was a strange guy.

Sam turned to Garth and said, "You can just hang out for a while. We gotta wait for Rufus to get here before we really get started on training."

"Sounds great! Thanks Sam," Garth said with a smile.

Sam tried to smile back, but he caught Tera looking at him again. He slowly moved away from Garth and walked over to Tera. He didn't really want to talk to her, but he needed to try to get her to stop.

Tera's smile widened as he walked closer to her. "Sam," Tera greeted fondly when he stopped in front of her. "You look so cute when you're worried. Actually, I think this is more of a worried, annoyed mix. Either way, you look super cute right now."

"Can we talk in the kitchen?" Sam asked quietly.

Tera looked surprised for a second, but then she looked up at him with a sly smile. "I'd love to." She reached out to touch his arm, but he dodged her and walked to the kitchen. Tera quickly followed him though.

Sam leaned against the far counter, hoping that Tera would keep her distance. She didn't, of course, and sat on the counter right beside him. Sam moved away from her and crossed his arms over his chest. Tera pouted for a moment, but then she smiled again.

"What's going on?" Sam asked impatiently.

"Why, I have no idea what you mean…" Tera replied innocently.

"Tera," Sam said with a sigh.

It was quiet for a moment, but Sam just stared at Tera, hoping that would make her talk. "I just find you very interesting," Tera admitted. Sam didn't really know what to say to that, but Tera quickly continued. "You're not like other hunters…honestly, you're not like anyone I've ever met. You were supposed to lead the demon army, but you didn't want to do that, and instead tried to stop it. I'm just trying to figure you out."

Sam was a little stunned by Tera's admission. He had really liked her before he'd found out she was a demon, but then she tried to kill them all and had taken Alec with her. He still hadn't forgiven her for nearly killing his little brother, but he couldn't ignore that she had at least changed a little bit since the last time he'd seen her.

Tera hopped down from the counter and walked over to him. She put her hand on his arm, and he actually let her. She leaned a little closer to him and said, "I just want you to know, even though I was trying to get close to you to take out you and your brother, I actually did like you." She smiled at him seductively and stood on her toes so she could whisper in his ear, "And I still do."

She quickly kissed his cheek, and then started to walk out of the room. She stopped and looked back at him with a smirk before she left the room completely.

Sam was frozen, unsure about what had just happened and a little scared that he actually liked it.

"Sam," Dean suddenly said, poking his head into the room, "What're you doin'?"

Sam shook himself, "What?"

"Bobby just came in with Mole." Dean nodded his head towards the living room signaling for Sam to follow him. "C'mon, I wanna talk to him." Sam shrugged and followed Dean back to the living room.

Bobby was introducing Garth to Mole. Garth looked really impressed with Mole; he was smiling and looking him over, but not with fear, just with curiosity. Mole looked mad and uncomfortable with the attention.

"Hey boys," Bobby said as Sam and Dean walked over to him. "Did Alec find you?"

"Yeah, Bobby, what the hell?" Dean asked.

Bobby's eyebrows drew together in confusion, "What's up your butt?"

"You know half of Seattle's after him? And you wanted him to go out to buy a bottle of liquor?"

"Without that liquor, Rufus ain't comin'," Bobby grumbled. "Alec said he knew where to get it."

Mole snorted, "Course Pretty Boy knows where to get it. He knows where to get everything. He's the one who keeps me in supply of the cigars I like. Can't get 'em anywhere else...Really the only reason to keep the kid around." Mole glared at Dean and said, "And I keep runnin' out 'cause he keeps runnin' off with you."

Dean scowled, "Just send someone else to get them."

"Can't," Mole replied. "Pretty Boy's contacts won't deal with anyone else."

Sam frowned, something didn't feel right. "Mole, this liquor that Alec's getting, can you buy it at the store?"

"Depends on what kind," Mole replied.

Sam and Dean both looked at Bobby who said with a shrug, "Jonny Walker Blue."

Mole huffed out a laugh, "Good luck findin' that anywhere. Better hope Alec's contacts have some in stock and are willin' to deal with him."

Sam looked at Dean; he looked pissed and Sam wasn't sure if he was pissed that Alec was dealing with people again or the fact that Alec hadn't told them how he was going to get the liquor in the first place.

"Wait, what d'you mean 'deal with him'?" Bobby asked, turning to Mole.

"He finds people who has what he wants and deals with them. He gives them money or gets them something they want in return. It's not exactly a difficult concept to comprehend, but I guess it could be for a small minded ordinary," Mole grumbled. Bobby glared at Mole.

"He is in so much trouble when he gets back," Dean muttered under his breath.

There was a sudden knock on the door. Sam glanced over at Bobby, but he scowled back, "I don't live here. This is your house!"

Sam rolled his eyes and walked over to the door. He was surprised to see Max standing on the other side. He hadn't seen her around much since she was busy running Freak Valley.

"Hey Sam," Max greeted easily. She walked past him, further into the house. She stopped when she saw Dean, and then looked back to Sam. "Why are you both here?" Max asked in confusion, "Is Alec back already?"

"You knew he was going to deal?" Dean asked incredulously.

Max shrugged, "Yeah, he told me." She walked across the room and sat on the arm of the sofa near where Dean was standing. "It's not a big deal. That's just how we have to get things here." Max scanned the room quickly, and then turned back to Sam and Dean, "So where is he?"

"Alec?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.

"Yeah, Alec," Max replied impatiently. "We were going to meet up when he got back, but then I heard that the new guy, Garth, was here and I wanted to meet him."

"I'm Garth!" Garth called out from across the room. He gave Max a big smile and waved at her.

Max shot Sam and Dean a look clearly saying 'are you kidding me?' But she turned back to Garth and said, "I'm Max."

"Nice to meet you Max," Garth said happily.

Sam frowned, suddenly putting together some of the things Max had said. She'd been confused that he and Dean were both there, but then she'd thought that Alec was back. She wasn't all that concerned that Alec had gone to deal, which didn't really make sense. She was pretty protective over Alec too and it was weird that she had just let him go.

"Max, Alec's not here," Sam said, interrupting her and Garth's conversation.

Max turned away from Garth and asked, "What d'you mean he's not here?"

"He's still out dealing as far as we know," Sam replied.

Max sprung up from the sofa and glared at Sam and Dean. "Then why are you both here?!" Sam and Dean took a small step back. "He said he was going to take your car!"

"He did," Dean defended. "He asked for the keys. Said he needed to get some liquor for another guy that's comin'."

"Why didn't you go with him?" Max asked angrily. She took a step closer to them and they both took another step back. It'd gone silent in the room and Sam could see that everyone was watching what was going down.

"We didn't know he had to deal for the stuff," Sam cut in before things got out of control between Dean and Max. "We thought he was just going to the store. I swear, if we'd known he was going to do this, one of us would've gone with him."

Max kept her gaze on both of them; she was trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. She deflated after a moment and said, "He made it sound like one of you would be going too. I was ok with it only because I thought he'd have backup in case things turned ugly."

"He wasn't upfront with us either," Dean said. "And we're not happy about it."

Mole scoffed from where he stood, drawing everyone's attention. "You all act like he's a fresh faced recruit that's never seen a day of battle. He's a soldier; an X5 who could take on a grown man before he was 6. He's got the skills to take out everyone in this room without blinkin' an eye. If he can't handle runnin' to town to make one simple deal, we've got a bigger problem on our hands."

Everyone just looked at Mole, who looked a little uncomfortable now that the attention was focused on him.

"Sure, backup would've been smart," Mole said when no one else jumped in. "But this is Alec we're talkin' about here. He does whatever the hell he wants and he always has. He wouldn't be Alec if he didn't do somethin' stupid, but he's made it this far, so, just, relax a little."

It was quiet for another minute, and then Dean said, "Damn Mole, I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at one time." Mole growled back at him, but Dean chuckled. "I just wish I would've thought to record it. Alec would've liked to hear all the nice things you said about him."

"You better hope Pretty Boy gets some cigars for me while he's out, otherwise I'm gonna be a real pain to deal with," Mole grumbled in reply.

"More than you already are?" Dean asked with a smirk.

Mole looked like he was about to attack Dean, but Sam stepped in his way and turned towards Dean. He gave him a reprimanding look and asked, "Would you knock it off?"

Dean rolled his eyes and turned away from Sam. He started walking to the kitchen and Sam followed him. Dean ran his hand through his hair, and then said, "I guess I was overreacting a bit…"

"I probably was too…But Alec's just really good at finding trouble. We can't help it that we're worried," Sam said. "It doesn't matter to me how much training he has, he's still our little brother and it's our job to protect him."

Dean gave Sam a smile and said, "Damn straight."

It was quiet for a minute, and then Sam said, "Y'know, he probably doesn't even know that we're worried about him."

Dean frowned, "He's been with us for a year almost and he still doesn't get that we worry about him?"

Sam shrugged, "I don't know, probably. He's just as thick headed as his older brother, so I wouldn't doubt it." Dean gave him an unamused look and Sam smirked. He sobered after a moment though and said, "Dean, he spent his whole life without anyone caring about him except for how well he did on missions and training, we can't blame him for not just accepting that people worry and care about him."

Dean nodded, "Which is why he didn't think about bringing backup when he went out to make a deal."

Sam started to agree, but then Bobby called out from the living room, "Boys! Somethin's goin' on!"

Sam and Dean moved at the same time to go back to the living room. Max was on her feet with her hand pressed to her ear while everyone watched her intently.

"Sweep, slow down, I can't understand what you're saying," Max said out loud. Max was quiet as she listened again. "Alright, I'll be there in a minute."

Max started walking to the door without giving them an explanation, but Dean stopped her, "Max, what's goin' on?"

Max turned back to the room and said, "Someone's at the gate giving Sweep some trouble."

"We should come with you," Dean said.

Max started to shake her head no, but Mole of all people said, "Take someone with you. Don't be an idiot like Pretty Boy and go out there without backup."

"We're goin'," Dean stated.

Sam and Dean both moved to leave with Max, but then Bobby said, "I should go too. If it's who I think it is, then I better be there…"

Sam glanced over at Dean who shrugged back and the four of them left the house. They walked fast so they were at the gate in just a few minutes. A man was standing on the other side of the fence yelling at Sweep, who had her gun pointed at the man in warning.

"How old are you supposed to be anyway?!" The man practically yelled. "I didn't come all this way to have a gun pointed at me by some 12 year old! I'm retired! I'm too old for this shit!"

"Dammit," Bobby grumbled under his breath. Then louder he called out, "Rufus! Leave that poor girl alone! She's just doin' her job!"

Rufus moved his glare from Sweep to Bobby. "I'm retired, Bobby, I did not sign up for 12 year olds with guns."

"If you're retired, why'd you agree to come in the first place?" Bobby grumbled back.

"You promised me some Jonny Walker," Rufus replied with a smile.

Bobby leaned a little closer to Sam and Dean and said under his breath, "Better hope your brother gets back here soon, otherwise Rufus ain't gonna stick around."

"You sure we want him to stick around?" Dean asked, shooting a glance over at Rufus.

"He's a damn good hunter," Bobby said. "He's a grump, but he knows what he's doin'."

"So, you gonna let me in now or what?" Rufus asked.

"Sweep, you can stand down," Max said with a sigh. She was ahead of Sam, Dean, and Bobby, but she looked back to give them all a quick glare before she focused on Rufus again.

Sweep lowered her gun, but she kept her eyes trained on Rufus; unwilling to let her guard down around him. Max closed the distance between her and Sweep and went to the gate to open it. Rufus got back in his car and drove inside, and then followed Bobby where to go.

"Real nice guy," Max said sarcastically to Sam and Dean. She helped Sweep close the gate again, and said to the younger girl, "Good job, Sweep. When Alec gets back can you let me know?"

"Sure," Sweep said with a smile, proud of the praise from Max.

"Hopefully he gets better," Sam said.

"And here I thought Bobby was grumpy," Dean muttered, making Sam and Max laugh.

The three of them walked to catch up with Bobby and Rufus, but it sounded like they were arguing.

"What d'you mean there are conditions for my liquor?" Rufus asked angrily. "I drove all the way out here! That should be enough!"

Bobby sighed, "I told you, we're gettin' hunters together to teach hunting to the transgenics."

"And I told you, I'm retired," Rufus replied.

"Then you're not getting you're Jonny Walker until you come out of retirement," Bobby said with a smug smile.

"You act like I can't go to the store to pick it up," Rufus said.

"You can't," Max threw in.

"Then how do you have any?" Rufus asked.

"We have our ways," Max said, smirking over at Sam and Dean.

"I don't believe this," Rufus grumbled.

"All you have to do is teach a little bit of hunting, take a few out on a hunt, and then you'll get your liquor. We'll even start you off with one bottle if you agree to stay," Bobby bargained.

Rufus thought about it for a moment, and then asked, "If I do teach 'em how to hunt and all that, how many bottles we talkin' 'bout here?"

Sam had no idea how many bottles Alec was going to get from this deal and he was pretty sure that Bobby didn't either.

"We'll just decide that when we see how much you're teachin' 'em," Bobby said.

Rufus stopped walking and turned towards Bobby. He was smiling when he said, "No, no, no. I think we need to decide this now."

Bobby shot a look over to Sam, Dean, and Max, but they just shrugged back at him. Finally, Bobby said, "I'm not sure yet what we'll give you."

"That means there's jack squat. I might as well leave now," Rufus said, starting back to where he parked his car.

Bobby sighed, "I don't know how many the kid's gonna get, ok?"

Rufus smirked; he saw his chance at controlling this deal and he took it. "I want 1 bottle for every 2 that I teach."

"That's insane!" Max exclaimed. "There's almost 200 of us!"

"One for every 15," Bobby bargained.

"5."

"10 or no deal," Bobby said.

"Fine," Rufus grumbled. "But after I get my Jonny Walker, I'm goin' back into retirement."

They started walking again after that, and before long they were back at the house. Bobby introduced Rufus to the others, but he didn't seem to care and Ellen already knew him. Rufus did look a little surprised when he saw Mole, but he ended up just sitting and pouting.

"When's this kid gonna get back with my liquor?" Rufus asked after a few minutes.

"We don't know," Dean answered honestly.

Dean started to pace, but Harper walked over to him and forced him to sit down. She rested her hand on his knee and leaned close to him. Sam saw her whisper to him, but he couldn't hear what she said. It was loud in their house with all of the people there, but he was pretty sure Harper was trying to calm Dean down.

Sam could almost feel Tera's gaze on him as soon as he walked in, but he ignored her. He went and sat by Ellen, Jo, and Garth and talked with them while he waited for Alec to get back. After a few hours, his nerves were starting to shoot up as high as Dean's were.

It was pretty late now and Sam could tell that more people were nervous that Alec wasn't back yet. Mole checked the window every few seconds, Dean had ended up pacing, Garth was looking between Sam and Dean, Ellen was sitting perfectly still, Max's leg was jiggling and she was biting her nails, Bobby resituated his hat over and over again, and Sam would stand up, walk around the room, and then sit back down again. Alec should've been back by now.

Alec really should've been back a few hours ago, but none of them wanted to think about that. They wanted to call him, but they didn't want to mess things up for him if he was still in the middle of the deal. They just had to trust that Alec would call them if he needed them.

"Go for Max!" Max suddenly said, springing up to her feet. Everyone looked to her and held their breath for some answers. Max was quiet for a minute with her hand pressed to her ear, "Alright. Thanks for the update." Max dropped her hand and looked around at everyone else. "He's back. That's all I know."

That wasn't exactly reassuring. It was good to know that Alec was back, but they didn't know what shape he would be in. Sam wanted to run to go find out if Alec was hurt or not, but he didn't know if Alec was already on his way back or not.

A few minutes later, the door was slowly being opened and Alec slipped inside with a box held in his arms. Everyone was watching him, but Sam and Dean both ran forward to check him oven. Max was close behind them, and Alec looked surprised when he saw them all.

Dean got to Alec first and he quickly checked him over. Alec had a dark bruise forming on his jaw and his knuckles were bloody, but otherwise he looked fine. His eyebrows rose and he looked between the three of them with mild curiosity.

"Everyone ok?" Alec asked casually.

Sam, Dean, and Max all looked at each other before they started in on their questions.

"What happened?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were going to make a deal?"

"I thought you were going to bring back up!"

"What took you so long?"

"Did you get into a fight?"

"Did you get the stuff?"

"How's my Baby?"

Alec's eyes widened with the barrage of questions and he actually tried to back up a step. Max caught his arm though, seeing that he was about to bolt.

"Alec, what happened?" Max asked seriously.

Alec held up the box and said, "I got the stuff…I don't see what the problem is…"

"The problem is that you've been gone for hours," Dean said. "You didn't tell any of us that you were going to deal and you come back with a bruised jaw and bloody knuckles. Now answer the question."

"Can I at least sit down? It's been a long day…" Alec said. He looked around the room for a second, but then deflated a little when he saw all the people. "Can we go somewhere else?" Alec asked quietly.

Sam took a deep breath and looked over at Dean. Max decided before they could; she grabbed the box out of Alec's hands and passed it off to Bobby. She grabbed Alec's hand and walked him back to his old bedroom.

Sam and Dean followed after just a moment of shock, and Dean closed the door behind him. Max forced Alec onto the bed; he smirked and said, "Jeez Maxie, we have company. Now's not a great time for this."

"Start talking," Max demanded.

Alec sighed. "It wasn't that big of a deal," Alec tried to placate. "I had to go make some money real quick so I actually had something to trade with. It took a while to find one of my old contacts that actually had what I wanted, but once I did, it was easy. But…the sector cops stumbled onto us once the deal was almost done and I had to split. They unknowingly set up right where I was hiding out, so I had to wait until they got tired and gave up before I could move out."

"How'd you make the cash?" Max asked suspiciously.

Alec hesitated; Sam knew right then that he wouldn't like the answer. "I think you already know…" Alec said quietly.

"Alec!" Max exclaimed. "Are you insane?!"

"It was a one-time thing!" Alec defended.

Sam put together what Max had told him while they were on the hunt and the fact that Alec's knuckles were bloody and figured out that Alec had been cage fighting.

"What did you do?" Dean asked, his voice stern. Sam forgot that Dean didn't know Alec used to cage fight.

"I was cage fighting," Alec mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Dean asked lowly. "Tell me you didn't just say you were cage fighting."

Alec threw his head back and sighed. "It's not a big deal. No one caught me and I got what we needed."

"You're an idiot," Max stated. Sam thought she was about to start throwing punches so he moved just a little bit closer. He was mad at Alec too, but he didn't want Max to start hitting him.

"This is why I didn't tell you," Alec pointed out.

"Because I would've told you it was a dumb idea," Max said.

"Alec," Dean said with a sigh. He walked over and sat next to him on the bed. Dean looked like he wanted to say more, but then he caught sight of Alec's knuckles. "I'll be back…"

Dean got up and left the room. Alec flopped back on the bed and groaned, "I should've known you all would freak out…"

"Alec-" Sam started, but Alec sat back up and cut him off, "Sam, I know how to take care of myself. I've been doin' it a long time and this was easy compared to what I'm used to."

Dean walked back in before Sam could say anything else. He had their first aid kit in his hands and Sam expected Alec to say something. But he didn't. He held out his hand for Dean to clean up, and then let him do the same thing for his other hand.

"Are we done?" Alec grumbled once Dean released him.

"For now," Dean said.

Alec stood up and started walking towards the door. He stopped though and said, "I get that you guys were worried, but I'm not a kid. I did my job, and honestly, I was pretty happy that I didn't screw it up. I can handle a simple deal and a cage fight. It's what I'm good at."

Alec started to leave again, but Dean stopped him, "Alec, come back here and sit down." It almost sounded like an order, and for a second, Sam thought Alec was going to completely ignore him. He didn't though, and instead slowly walked back over and sat down.

"That's not all you're good at," Dean said.

"Can we not do the whole soul bearing episode right now?" Alec asked.

"Shut up. You're gonna listen," Dean said. "We know you can take care of yourself. And the list of things you're good at is way too long to actually list, especially since you're about two seconds away from running out of this room as fast as you can." Dean took a deep breath, and then said, "Next time just take someone to back you up, ok?"

Alec looked up in surprise; he probably thought that he was going to get yelled at more. Sam was a little surprised too that Dean hadn't said more. Alec looked at Dean for a minute to see if he was serious, and then slowly nodded. "Yeah…alright…"

"Good," Dean said.

"Can we go back out there now?" Alec asked. "Saw a new guy out there…"

Dean chuckled and Max rolled her eyes. Sam knew Alec was deflecting, and now wouldn't really be a good time to push him to talk.

"He's the worst," Max said, talking about Rufus. "He was yelling at Sweep when he got here."

"He's probably in a better mood now though," Sam said. "Now that his liquor's here."

Dean nodded in agreement, and then started out of the room. Sam followed Dean, Alec, and Max back to the living room after just a moment's hesitation. Alec was swept away almost immediately; everyone wanted to know what happened and Alec was more than happy to tell them. Rufus instantly took a liking to him since he was the one that got him his liquor, and Alec was an easy kid to like.

"I guess we need to chill…" Dean said as he watched the hunters all hang around Alec as he laughed and told them what all happened.

"I don't know…he was still cage fighting…" Sam said.

"Yeah, I'm still pissed about that," Dean muttered. Alec was talking with Garth now and Sam got the feeling that those two would actually start being pretty good friends.

"But, yeah, I guess we could chill a little…" Sam said.

They were both quiet for a minute, and then Dean said, "I guess now that we have more hunters, it's time to start teachin'…"

"Yeah, I guess so," Sam agreed.

"Good," Dean said with a small smirk, "'Cause we've got a lot of work to do."

* * *

 _More soon..._


	9. Chapter 9

_Sorry everyone, I meant to update a lot sooner, but there's been a lot going on. I finally managed to get this chapter done, but not much happens in it so hopefully you all still like it! Just to recap, the hunters are now going to start teaching the transgenics how to hunt._

* * *

Dean stood in front of his group of transgenics. Max had decided that each of the hunters would start out with five transgenics, which didn't make Rufus happy since he needed ten for another bottle of liquor but he actually didn't argue. She also decided that only X5's and transhumans would start out with training. She didn't want kids to be brought in on this yet; she wanted to see how the others handled it before she made a solid decision.

When he first thought about having the transgenics fighting the supernatural fight, he'd been excited, but he hadn't really thought about teaching them. He didn't think about the fact that he would be in charge of teaching some of them himself.

He wasn't a teacher. He wasn't like Sam; he'd never liked school and he'd never been good at it. But he didn't have a choice now. He had five transgenics staring at him, waiting for him to get started on teaching them how to hunt.

He really should've thought this through more. Maybe he should co-op with Sam…

"Hey, um…Teach…I don't wanna tell ya how to do this, but maybe we could go around and introduce ourselves?" One of the transgenics asked. He was a big guy with huge muscles, but an easy smile. Dean was surprised he didn't recognize the guy. But there were a lot of transgenics in Freak Valley, and even though he had been there for most of them when they all saw Tera, he didn't actually know all of their names.

Dean took a deep breath and nodded, "Uh, yeah, that's a good idea…Um, my name's Dean…and I guess I'm gonna teach you all how to hunt…"

"Awesome," the big guy said with a wide smile. "Name's Rocky. Do you by any chance know Alec? 'Cause you look just like him."

That's why Dean didn't know Rocky; Alec had been on that house check.

"Um, yeah…Alec's my little brother," Dean said.

"So that makes you X4? X3?" Rocky asked.

Dean frowned, "Did you just get here?" They'd been through all of this on their first visit, but the transgenics all knew him and Sam now.

"Yeah," Rocky said. "Just got here a few days ago."

"Oh," Dean said simply. "Um, well, I'm not a transgenic. I'm Alec's DNA donor…"

"Huh, that's different. Never knew of a donor living long enough to actually find the subject. Most of the donors discreetly disappeared…But that's awesome! Alec's a good kid; he deserves to have a family. Knew him back at Manticore and actually worked with him a few times…" Rocky said, trailing off. He shook himself after a second and said, "Sorry man, I'm takin' up all of your teaching time. I'll shut up now."

Dean pointed at Rocky and said, "We're gonna talk more later." Then he looked at the others gathered around and motioned for the girl next to Rocky to go ahead and introduce herself.

"I'm Gem," she introduced after a moment. "Are we supposed to say something about ourselves too?"

"If you want to," Dean encouraged; he had no idea what he was doing.

"I'm a new mom, I have a daughter named Eve," Gem said. "I guess most of you know that already though…"

"I didn't know that," Dean said, surprised. He knew Gem since she hung out in Command some of the time, but he had no idea she had a daughter.

Gem nodded, "Yeah, it was partly thanks to Alec that I got to have her in the first place. He took a bullet for us when the sector cops saw Joshua and Mole. Dalton had been with us too, but he's watching Eve now since he wasn't allowed in on hunting lessons."

Dean was shocked that Alec had an influence on Gem too. There was so much he didn't know about his little brother. But he knew Dalton wouldn't be kept from hunting long. "He will sometime soon, especially if Alec has anything to say about it."

Dean looked to the young man sitting next to Gem. He thought his name was Lucky, but he wasn't sure. He'd met a lot of transgenics in the last week and all the names were getting jumbled in his head.

"My name's Lucky. So far my name's not ironic, so that's good," Lucky said with a shrug.

Dean smirked; he liked more than half of his group already.

Lucky nudged the guy next to him to get him to go. He was a transhuman with more leopard in him than human. He had spots covering his skin, claws, and cat like ears, but from far away he could pass as human.

"I'm Leo," he said simply.

"Ok," Dean drew out. He turned to the girl next to Leo and nodded for her to go. Dean already knew her from their last trip here, but he didn't know if everyone knew her. "Um Penny, you can go ahead and go."

"Well, my name's Penny, which you already know," Penny said. "I work in Command a lot…I don't know what else to say…"

"No that's good," Dean said. He took a deep breath and continued, "Um, I guess this is where I start teaching you…" He trailed off, still unsure of where to start.

"So, you said ghosts are real too," Gem said, saving him.

He breathed out in relief and instantly jumped in, "Yes. Ghosts are real. So are werewolves, shapeshifters, vampires, and you've already seen a demon…"

"And we're gonna kill them, right?" Lucky asked.

"Yes," Dean said with a smile. He started in on how to kill a ghost and found that now that he was talking about hunting it wasn't that hard. He was in his element and he was actually pretty excited to get started.

* * *

Sam had to have his group introduce themselves too. He knew Joshua and he vaguely knew who Tack was from their last visit, but the other two he didn't know. One's name was Panda and the other was Stella. Sam was a little confused though because he thought each group was supposed to have five, but his only had four.

"So for ghosts, you have to figure out where they're buried and then salt and burn their bones," Sam explained. He'd already explained some things, but he didn't think he was doing a very good job. Dean was a better teacher than he was; Dean had taught him and Alec both how to hunt, and now he was doing his best to teach like Dean had.

"Sorry I'm late," Max called out as she walked into the room. She walked over and sat next to Joshua and looked at Sam expectantly.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked in confusion.

"I'm here to learn," Max stated.

Sam frowned, "Learn hunting?"

Max smiled, "Yeah. I wanna learn more than just about hunting ghosts."

"You don't want to be in Alec's group?" Sam asked uncertainly. Sam figured she would either be in Alec's or Dean's group if she wanted to learn more; he'd never thought about her being in his group.

"Nope, I'm in your group," Max said with an air of finality.

"Oh…ok," Sam finally said.

"So, where were you?" Max asked.

"Um, we were talking about ghosts," Sam muttered.

"Well, I'm ready to learn," Max said, nodding for him to continue.

* * *

Alec went about teaching hunting the same way he trained the X6's back at Manticore. He'd been a CO for a while so he was comfortable telling people what to do, but he was still new at hunting so he wasn't as comfortable as he should have been.

He had Bear, Zip, Roger, Pete, and Carly in his group. He knew Zip from before and he knew Roger, Pete, and Carly from Manticore. The only one he didn't know was Bear; she was dark skinned, tall, and thin. Alec could tell right away that she didn't take crap from anyone.

"Salt rounds are a must when you're hunting a ghost. Salt makes the ghost disappear and will keep it from trying to kill you…for a second. It will come back; it doesn't go away just because you shoot it. But, it could save you," Alec said.

"I heard a ghost kicked your ass the other day," Pete said with a nasty smirk.

Alec glared at Pete and said, "X5's are no match for a ghost. Your training will only get you so far in the supernatural world. Even if you go in there knowing what you're up against, they're still unpredictable and if you go in there cocky, then people are gonna get hurt."

Pete didn't say anything, but Alec could tell that he wasn't really backing down. X5's could be cocky and headstrong, which Alec could easily admit, but X5 males could be even worse. Alec didn't think Pete would be so cocky after his first hunt; he just had to make sure no one got hurt because of it.

"You ready to shut up and learn or should I go find someone else?" Alec asked threateningly. Pete's jaw clenched, but he looked away with his submission to Alec's command. Alec smiled and said, "Good. Now one of the tricky things that can happen with ghosts is if they weren't buried and were cremated instead. If that's the case then you can't salt and burn the bones and something else is keeping them here. You have to figure out what that is and burn that instead."

* * *

Bobby only had four on his team so far; Dix, Luke, Switch, and Dial. All of them seemed tech savy and they were already paired up. Dix and Luke seemed to be friends while Switch and Dial were friends. He had no idea who or where his fifth one was, and he wasn't entirely sure if he should start without them or not.

Before he could decide, Max blew into the room and walked right up to him.

"What're you doin' here?" Bobby grumbled. "You better not be in my group." He had nothing against Max really, but he'd never hear the end of it if she was in his group instead of Alec's.

"One of your students is running late," Max said, ignoring his grouchiness. "He had to get a ride here since he's not a transgenic and doesn't live here."

"You're tellin' me that I'm trainin' someone who ain't even transgenic?"

"Yes. Now I've gotta go tell the other two groups that their students are running late too before I'm late to my own group," Max said before she ran back out of the room.

Bobby turned to the other four members and asked, "Any clue who this last one is?"

They all shook their heads no. Bobby sighed; he'd wait another couple of minutes before he got on with it. Whoever this last guy was would just have to catch up.

Bobby was just about to get started when the door opened again. Bobby took a deep breath, and then let it out in a huff.

"Sorry I'm late," the man called out as he walked closer. "It won't happen again."

"What's your name?" Bobby asked, slightly bored.

"Logan Cale," Logan replied.

"And you're an ordinary, right?" Bobby asked.

Logan looked confused, "Aren't you an ordinary too?"

"Yeah, but I got roped in to teach transgenics…" Bobby grumbled. "Oh well, let's get this over with…You can't go huntin' until you know what it is and how to kill it."

* * *

Alec wandered his way into the house that had been converted into a bar. He wasn't sure whose idea it had been to turn one of the houses into a bar, but he was pretty sure Max hadn't approved that choice. But it was good for the transgenics to have a place to let loose. And it was fairly easy to get cheap alcohol.

They'd dimmed the lights in the bar to make it more authentic and they were playing classic rock music from an old jukebox. Tables and chairs lined the walls while a makeshift bar was set up in the middle. Somehow they had managed to steal a pool table and set it up in the corner. The bar was new; it hadn't been around the last time they'd visited, and this was the first time Alec had been there.

It was fairly full in the bar; people were scattered around the tables, Rocky and Dean were playing pool, and Sam was sitting with Harper and Tera at the bar. Alec was surprised to see that Bear was actually behind the bar serving drinks.

Alec walked right up to the bar and leaned across it. "Bear, I didn't know you knew how to bartend!" Alec called out to get her attention.

Bear turned around and actually smiled at him. Throughout the lesson she'd been completely serious, paying attention to every word he said but not saying a word herself. "You did not ask," Bear replied. "Now, what will you have?"

"You got any scotch back there?" Alec asked, trying to peek over the bar to see the options.

"We have Sir Edward's or McIvor," Bear said, holding up two bottles to show him.

Alec made a face, but then shrugged. Beggars couldn't be choosers. "Go with the McIvor."

"Excellent choice," Bear said with a smirk. She poured some liquor into a glass for him and slid it over.

Alec caught the glass and swirled the liquid around. He took a drink, and then looked back up at Bear and asked, "So, how'd you end up bartending?"

"Rocky got me to do it," Bear said. "He asked me if I would if he managed to get this place set up. I did not think he would pull it off so I said I would. I should have known."

"Rocky got this place set up?" Alec asked, surprised. Rocky had only gotten here a few days ago. Alec had helped him get settled since he had known Rocky back at Manticore. "He works fast…"

"Try living with him," Bear said in amusement.

"You're one of his roommates?" He hadn't seen Bear when he helped Rocky move in.

Bear nodded, "I was just placed there recently. I arrived shortly after Rocky did."

Alec glanced over when someone slid onto the barstool next to him. Garth shot him a huge smile and Alec couldn't help but smile back. Garth wasn't what he'd come to expect out of a hunter, but he was funny.

"Hey Alec," Garth greeted.

"Hey man," Alec replied. Then he looked over at Bear and introduced, "Bear this is Garth. Garth, Bear."

"Great ta meet ya Bear," Garth said happily.

Bear give Alec an unamused look, and then said to Garth, "Would you like a drink?"

"Oh no," Garth said easily. "I just wanted to hang out with everyone."

Another man sat on Alec's other side and Alec was shocked to see that it was Rufus. The grumpy old hunter had taken a liking to him since he'd gotten the man his liquor, but he was pretty nasty to everyone else.

"Hey kid," Rufus said.

"Hey," Alec said back. "You know Garth and this is Bear."

Rufus ignored him and instead tried to catch a glimpse behind the bar. "You got any glasses back there?"

Bear scowled and Alec asked, "Don't you want something to go in the glass?"

Rufus smiled at him and pulled out a bottle of the Jonny Walker. "You got a glass or not?" Rufus said to Bear.

"Rufus! You're in a bar. You don't bring your own liquor to a bar," Alec said, slightly amused.

"Like hell I don't," Rufus grumbled back. Rufus pick up Alec's glass and sniffed it. "That smells like shit. I ain't drinkin' that. You shouldn't either." Rufus looked around for a second then looked back to Bear. "Looks like we need two glasses."

Bear glanced over at Alec, but he just shrugged back. She finally got out two glasses and set them on the bar. She looked at Alec one last time before she walked to the other end of the bar.

Alec turned back to see Rufus pouring some Jonny Walker into both glasses. "I don't usually share, but you've earned it, Kid." Rufus started to pass one of the glasses over, but pulled it back when Alec reached for it. "Savor it. Understand?"

Alec nodded and Rufus gave him the glass. Alec took a drink and relished at how smooth the liquor was. It was loads better than his last drink.

"Good, huh?" Rufus asked, shooting a glance over at him.

"Best I've ever had," Alec replied honestly.

"I don't bother drinkin' unless it's this," Rufus said, taking a drink from his own glass. "And I need a drink after the day I've had."

"Tough group?" Alec asked.

"Got stuck with the lizard and some skinny kid that kept callin' himself Sketchy. Idiot," Rufus muttered.

Alec chuckled; he couldn't really see Sketchy hunting, but he'd wanted to do it. Max had asked Sketchy, Logan, and OC if they want to hunt and all three had said yes.

"I think that skinny kid should be with you, Toothpick," Rufus said to Garth. "You two would get along." Rufus took another drink while Garth looked over at Alec, who just shrugged back.

"What about the other three?" Alec asked after a moment.

"Couldn't even tell you the other three's names."

"I like my group," Garth threw in with a smile. "I've got Tank, Dozer, Shovel, Pig, and Chopper."

Alec nearly choked on his drink; all of those guys were huge and Garth was their teacher.

"Good for you, Toothpick," Rufus shot out. Garth just smiled back.

"Are you givin' my little brother hard liquor?" Dean suddenly asked behind them. Dean and Rocky had walked over together after their game of pool.

"So?" Rufus asked without looking back at Dean.

"He's not even 21," Dean said.

"So?" Rufus asked again.

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just don't overdo it…" Dean said to Alec after a moment.

"You do remember that I can't get drunk, right?" Alec asked, amused.

"You don't get fancy liquor all the time. Just watch your stomach," Dean warned. He clapped Alec on the shoulder, and then walked further down the bar. Alec watched as Dean got two beers from Bear and sat at a table with Rocky.

"Don't listen to him, Kid," Rufus said. "One drink won't kill ya."

"I know," Alec said with a small smile. He took another drink and set it down.

"You really can't get drunk?" Garth asked curiously.

Alec shook his head no, but then smiled, "I'm guessing one drink for you is all it takes."

"Right you are, Alec," Garth replied with a laugh. "One beer and I'm too drunk to drive."

"That's just sad," Rufus muttered under his breath.

The three of them were quiet for a moment, and then Alec said, "Thanks Rufus. Thanks for the drink."

"No problem, Kid," Rufus replied.

* * *

Harper and Tera had walked over to the bar after she had finished their lesson. It had been a long day and Harper decided that she needed a drink. Max had only given her four people to teach since she had Tera with her too. It was a lot to deal with.

"Cricket, we should get a drink. Get our buzz on," Tera said beside her.

"Why do you think we came to the bar?" Harper asked sarcastically.

Tera rolled her eyes and walked ahead of Harper to get them some drinks. Harper looked around for a moment to see if she knew anyone else in the bar. So far it wasn't very full, but she figured it would fill up more later.

Harper walked the rest of the way to the bar and sat next to Tera.

"I like hunting lessons. Those were fun today," Tera said as Harper sat down. "But I would like to start actual hunting again. I'm tired of just sitting around and talking about it. I know they have to learn and all, but I think we should take them out to teach them."

"We'll get there," Harper replied.

Tera groaned dramatically, "But I'm so bored! I liked going around and showing off my awesome powers, but now I'm bored again." Harper just rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink. "Student at 6 o'clock!" Tera suddenly said. "It's the hot one with an attitude."

Harper turned on her barstool and saw that Original Cindy had just walked into the bar. "You should really try to learn their names," Harper muttered to Tera.

"Hey, I recognized her as one of our students. Cut me some slack," Tera said.

OC walked right up to them and smiled at Harper. "Hey girl," OC greeted warmly to Harper.

"Hey," Harper easily replied. OC sat on the barstool next to her and ordered a drink.

"Hey from me too," Tera threw in.

"I didn't get a chance to holler at ya earlier, but I wanted to ask how you got into hunting?" OC asked Harper.

"Oh, I understand now," Tera whispered under her breath.

Harper ignored her and said, "My dad was into hunting, but I didn't start until the Winchester boys saved me from a ghost when we were kids."

OC nodded with interest, and then asked, "If we don't have a hunt this weekend, you free?"

Harper thought about it; she didn't think anything was going on this weekend. It was hard to say for sure though, since a hunt could pop up that would send them out. Tera snickered beside her, but she didn't know why.

"I don't think I'm doing anything," Harper finally said.

"We should go out," OC said. "I can show you the city, and then we can chill at Crash."

Harper shrugged and nodded her ok. That would be fun to see the sights; she hadn't ever been to Seattle before and she was curious to see it since it had been practically destroyed. Washington had covered that fact up until the transgenics had escaped, and then they pinned the blame on them.

"Unfortunately, this will be a date for three," Tera said with a smirk.

Cindy frowned in confusion and Harper rolled her eyes at Tera. "I had a witch tie Tera to me," Harper explained.

OC's eyes widened, "Now Honey, why would you go and do somethin' like that?"

"Well, Tera's a pretty dangerous demon," Harper started. Tera smiled widely, considering that praise. "I caught her, and then I couldn't let her go because the first time we met her she was trying to lead a demon army. I couldn't let her start that up again, and I was looking for the boys at the same time. The whole thing was a mess."

OC put a comforting hand on her arm and Harper smiled at her. Tera huffed, but Harper didn't know what her deal was right now.

OC looked like she was about to say something else, but then Dean walked into the bar with a big guy with an easy smile. OC moved away from her as Dean and the big guy walked over to them. Dean smiled and kissed Harper on the cheek before he looked back to the big guy.

"Rocky, this is Harper, Tera, and Original Cindy. And this is Rocky," Dean introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you lovely ladies," Rocky said with a smile.

"We're gonna go play pool if you wanna come," Dean said, pointing over to the pool table.

Harper shook her head no, "We're just gonna chill at the bar."

Dean shrugged and he and Rocky walked away. OC sighed when they were gone and said, "It figures that you're taken."

"What?" Harper asked, confused.

"Oh my God. You're so blind," Tera muttered.

"Honey, I've been hittin' on you since I walked in the bar," OC said with a sly smile.

"You were hitting on me?" Harper asked, surprised and flattered at the same time.

"It's ok," OC replied. "I shoulda known you had yourself a fine lookin' man."

"OC, I'm so sorry," Harper said sincerely; she hadn't even realized that OC had been hitting on her.

"It's alright, sugar," OC said. She stood up and said, "Besides, I think I see another honey over by the jukebox. I'll see ya at lessons."

OC walked over to a pretty looking transgenic with long red hair. Harper turned back to Tera, who was still laughing at her.

"I can't believe you didn't know," Tera said. "She made it pretty obvious. And for a hunter, you should be able to pick up on those things. Be more observant."

"Shut up," Harper replied.

"I'm just sayin'," Tera defended.

"Well stop."

"You take the fun out of everything," Tera grumbled. She gasped suddenly and hit Harper repeatedly on the arm.

"What?" Harper asked, annoyed.

"Sam just walked in," Tera said quickly. "Act cool."

"You have a serious problem," Harper said.

Tera waved her off, and then said, "Hey Sam."

Harper rolled her eyes and turned to see Sam standing next to them.

"Hey," Sam said with a small smile. He sat down next to Tera and got a beer. "How was teaching?" Sam asked Harper.

"Good," Harper said. "It's really easy to teach them. They pick it up so fast. How was your group?"

"About the same," Sam said easily. "It's weird being the one teaching them though. Usually Dean's the one teaching me how to do stuff." Sam looked to Tera and asked, "How do you like hunting?"

Tera shrugged, "It's fine. I wish we were _actually_ hunting again instead of just teaching it, but whatever."

"You and Harper have been hunting?" Sam asked curiously.

"Of course! It's not like we've just been sitting around doing nothing. Even though we are technically waiting for you boys to find a way to kill me. Looks like that's not going so well…" Tera said teasingly.

Sam chuckled, "Yeah, we kind of got distracted from that. Besides, I thought Bobby was still looking into it."

"Old grumpy gills is never gonna find anything," Tera replied. "I'm not worried."

"Oh yeah?" Sam asked in disbelief. He leaned forward a little, closer to Tera.

Harper frowned; it was pretty clear that Sam was actually flirting with Tera. That wasn't right. He was supposed to hate her still. And, Harper was pretty sure he had been uncomfortable with her attention.

 _And Tera said I wasn't observant,_ Harper thought to herself.

Hopefully this would just blow over and nothing would come of it. That was unlikely, but it could happen. As long as Dean and Alec didn't notice that Sam was flirting with Tera, everything would be fine. Sam would come to his senses eventually and nothing would come of this harmless flirting.

Sam laughed at something Tera had said, causing Harper to tune back into the conversation.

"And then, since we are tied together, I was drug over the side and right into the water," Tera said with a pout. Sam laughed again and Harper rolled her eyes.

"If you would've been paying attention, I wouldn't've been thrown over the side in the first place," Harper muttered.

Tera went on with the story of when they had been hunting a ghost at a local pool. The ghost had been drowning the patrons and they had gone in after hours to take care of it. The body had been cremated, but the girl who had died had been a lifeguard. She'd died at the pool and her whistle was still there. Harper had been thrown off of her feet and into the pool and Tera had been quickly pulled in behind her thanks to their tie. They'd finally burned the whistle, but they were both soaking wet by the end of it.

Harper tensed suddenly when Alec walked into the bar. He glanced around the room; his gaze landed on them for just a second before his eyes shifted to the bartender. He brightened up at seeing the tall woman behind the bar and he immediately walked over to her. Harper breathed out in relief that he hadn't walked over to their little group. She didn't know what he would do if he saw Sam flirting with Tera.

Garth joined Alec at the bar after a few minutes, and then so did Rufus. Harper thought that was a strange trio, but they seemed to be having a good time.

"I like Garth," Tera suddenly said. "He's a little Cutie Pie."

"Really?" Sam asked with amusement.

"Yeah, he's like a stray puppy," Tera said with a decisive nod. Harper nearly groaned; she knew that look. Even though Tera was a demon, she was strangely protective over some people. And now it looked like Garth had made that list.

Sam cocked his head to the side, thinking, but then shrugged it off.

"Let's get another round!" Tera suddenly said, smiling at Sam.

* * *

Dean had decided that Rocky was by far his favorite. He liked all of his students, but Rocky was hilarious. Rocky had suggested after their class that they go to his bar. Dean hadn't really known what he meant since he didn't think Freak Valley had a bar, but he couldn't pass up a drink.

He'd said a quick hello to Harper before he and Rocky had gone over to play pool. They'd done that for a while, but then they'd decided to sit and drink. Dean couldn't help 'big brothering' Alec before they sat down. It was in his blood to look out for his little brothers, even if it was something as trivial as Alec having a drink.

Rocky chuckled as Dean passed him a glass of beer. "It's funny seein' Alec as a little brother."

"What d'you mean?" Dean asked curiously.

"I only knew him as a soldier. He's a great soldier by the way, even if he doesn't always act like it. Back in the day you could go to him for a good laugh, but he'd still get the job done. They were hard on him though…" Rocky said, shaking his head sadly. "He went to psy-ops a lot, and I know for sure one of the times wasn't his fault."

"What?" Dean asked, slightly panicked. Alec hardly ever talked about his time at Manticore. Dean wanted to know what had happened, but at the same time he didn't. He didn't want to hear about the pain that Alec had gone through and he didn't know if this would be an invasion of his little brother's privacy.

Rocky took a deep breath and nodded, "He only ever mentioned it once. We were trapped in enemy territory waiting for extraction. We ended up talking about the escape. No one had ever escaped before so it was something we liked to talk about on missions. We weren't allowed to talk about that kind of thing at home, but on missions they couldn't stop us. I hadn't known anyone who had made it out, but Alec sorta knew who one of 'em was."

"Who was it?" Dean asked. He couldn't help his curiosity. Now that Rocky had started, he needed to hear the rest of it.

"His twin," Rocky stated.

"Alec had a twin?"

Rocky nodded. "I don't know his name, but he was part of the escape. Alec got real quiet when I brought it up. I hadn't known that he had a twin; I just wanted something to talk about. I asked him where he thought they were now and he'd just shrugged. I knew he was acting weird, and I'd pushed because I was bored…He finally told me that he knew who one of them was. X5-493. I asked him if he'd ever met him, but he said no. He just knew he had a twin because he was taken to psy-ops for six months. They punished him because his twin escaped and they didn't want him getting any ideas of following in his twin's footsteps. He hadn't even known he had a twin until that happened."

"Any idea where his twin is now?" Dean asked.

Rocky shook his head no, "Probably dead, but I don't know. I never brought him up again, or the escape for that matter…None of us like talkin' about psy-ops, but if you were one of the twins, it was even worse."

"Man I hate that place," Dean said, sitting back against the chair. He shot a look over at Alec and saw him laughing with Garth. Rufus looked like he was trying to hide a smile. Garth was telling some story and Alec was laughing so hard he was bent almost double. Rufus patted his back, giving in and laughing with him.

Rocky shrugged, "Mixed feelings. It sucked, but it was home."

Dean nodded in understanding; Alec had told him almost the same thing not too long ago. Dean wanted to ask Rocky more about when he and Alec had gone on missions together, but their conversation was cut off by Bobby and Logan walking over to them.

Bobby motioned for him to scoot over, and then sat in the chair next to him. Logan sat beside Rocky and nodded to Dean. He and Logan had had their differences the last time they had visited, but he thought he'd give the guy one more chance. He still didn't want to be friends, but if Alec could stand to be around him, then he would make an effort to do the same.

"We've got some good news," Bobby said instead of a greeting. "Surprisingly, my crew is really good at computer crap and we already found three hunts for sure. You think your team's ready for the real deal?"

Dean glanced over at Rocky who gave him a wide smile in return.

"What kind of hunt are we talkin' about?" Dean asked.

"Vampires," Bobby stated.

Dean slowly started to smile. He nodded after a moment and said, "We'll take it."

* * *

 _More soon..._


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry for the long wait! I've now gone full time at my job and have gotten a second job on top of that so I hardly have any time to write, which is very sad for me because I really enjoy writing these stories. Hopefully you guys will stick with the story even though there will be long waits in between chapters. Also a warning for this chapter, there is sexual content so just a head's up. Hope you all like it!_

* * *

Dean strolled out of Command and started back for his house. He'd gotten his team together and met up with Bobby to figure out this hunt. It sounded like a fairly cut and dry vampire hunt; he and Bobby had done as much research as they could from Command to make sure they were dealing with something that first time hunters could handle, and luckily it looked like it was.

Dean had also told his team how to kill a vampire and the signs to look for if they thought they were hunting one in the future. Everyone on his team was really excited to get started with actual hunting, but they weren't leaving until tomorrow night.

"Dean! Wait up!" Sam suddenly called out behind him. Dean stopped and turned to see Sam, Harper, and Tera walking towards him.

"What're you guys doin'?" Dean asked as they got closer.

"We were just walkin' back to the house," Sam replied.

"Where's Alec?" Dean asked curiously. He knew his little brother could take care of himself, but he was still protective over him.

"Last I saw he was still at the bar," Sam said in amusement. "I think Garth and Rufus were gonna take up the challenge of getting him drunk."

Dean chuckled, "Well good luck to them…it can't be done. Hopefully they switched over to something not as strong as Jonny Walker Blue. He might not be able to get drunk, but he can still puke."

Sam gave him a knowing smile, "You worry so much. He's gonna be fine, and if he pukes, then maybe he'll learn something from it."

"Yeah…" Dean replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He was never going to stop worrying about either of his brothers. Sam shook his head, but he didn't push the subject any further.

"Heard you got a hunt," Harper said after a moment. She playfully bumped into him as they walked and he smiled.

"I wanna go on a hunt so bad!" Tera whined, and then said to Dean, "This is the first and only time I will ever be jealous of you."

"I'll make a mental note," Dean deadpanned back. He glanced over at Harper and saw that she was giving him a small, seductive smile. Her smile was enough to make his heart race in his chest and give him some ideas about how they could spend the rest of their night. He turned back to Tera and said, "Now can you make yourself scarce? I wanna talk to Harper, alone."

Sam rolled his eyes and Tera sighed dramatically, "You just wanna get it on."

"We'll hang out around the house or something," Sam said, gesturing to himself and Tera.

Dean nodded his thanks to Sam for distracting the demon for a while; taking one for the team. He and Harper hadn't been alone in a long time. They had some things they needed to talk about and if they happened to have sex, then who was he to stop them.

Harper smiled over at Tera, and then Dean grabbed her hand and started for their house. Sam and Tera followed until they got to the door, but then stopped outside. Dean pulled Harper inside and smirked at Sam before he shut the door.

Harper moved towards him and slowly put her arms around his neck. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. "So, you wanna talk?" Harper asked softly.

"Yeah," Dean replied with a relaxed smile, "But I think we should go back to my room…"

Harper threaded her fingers through his short hair and brought him closer. Her lips ghosted over his; he moved his hands down so he could pick her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. "We haven't been alone in forever…" Harper whispered against his cheek.

"Luckily everyone's at the bar tonight," Dean whispered back, walking through the empty living room. He kissed her below her ear, making her shiver.

He walked them back to his bedroom and kicked the door closed behind him, just in case. He lowered Harper to lie on the bed and he followed her down. He braced himself on his elbows and pressed his lips to hers. Her lips were soft against his as he kissed her.

She ran her fingers through his hair and down his back before she circled back up. He moved one of his hands under her back to bring her closer to him, her breasts pressed against his chest. Her lips parted and he let his tongue explore her mouth until her tongue brushed against his.

He turned his head to deepen the kiss and Harper's legs tightened around him. He wanted this night to last since he and Harper couldn't be together much. He missed her; he didn't feel like this when he was with other women.

Dean sat up, still kissing her, and brought her with him so she was sitting in his lap. Her legs were still wrapped around him; she ground her hips against his, and even though they were still fully dressed, he knew she could feel him through his jeans.

He edged his hands beneath Harper's shirt and skimmed her skin with his fingertips. One of Harper's hands moved from his hair, down his chest and fisted in his shirt. He pulled up on the bottom of Harper's shirt; she lifted her arms up so he could get her shirt off completely.

He wrapped his arms around her back and kissed her lips once before he kissed her neck. Her back arched with pleasure, pushing her breasts closer to him. He moved one hand up her side as he sucked on her delicate skin. She moaned, and then bucked her hips when he cupped her breast over her bra. He gently pulled her hair tie off, causing her hair to cascade down her back.

Dean ran his hand through her silky hair down to the clasp of her bra. He slid his hand under her bra and gently squeezed her breast as he unhooked her bra with his other hand. She gasped in a surprised breath when he touched her and pushed herself further into his hand. The straps of her bra fell from her shoulders and down to her bent elbows. Her breasts were revealed to him and he brushed his thumb over her erect nipple.

"Dean…"Harper breathed out, her eyes closed with pleasure.

Dean hummed against Harper's skin. He let his other hand travel lower as he caressed her breast. He unbuttoned her jeans and slowly glided his hand beneath the edge. He pressed against her heat and she ground against him in response. He rubbed her, making her squirm and causing her pleasure to build. He knew she was close so he backed off just a little.

He was straining against his jeans; his need to be with her almost overwhelming him. He pulled away completely from her and quickly pulled his shirt off over his head. Harper watched him and she kicked off her jeans as he stood up to do the same. He pulled his wallet out and grabbed a condom before he dropped his jeans and his boxers to the floor. He quickly rolled the condom on over his length before he went back to Harper.

He slid his hands up her thighs, and then tugged her underwear down. He gently pushed her legs apart and slowly eased himself inside of her. She gasped once he was all the way inside, but he caught her lips with his, capturing her gasp. She wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and held on to his shoulder with her other.

He slowly started to move; his strokes were slow and deep and she writhed beneath him. He got into a steady pace, kissing her deeply as he got them both closer to the brink.

Dean slipped his hand beneath Harper's lower back and tilted her hips up so he could get even deeper. She moaned in pleasure and her grip on him tightened. He had to break off their kiss to duck his head beside Harper's. He was so close; he couldn't help but speed up his pace.

Harper suddenly cried out and squeezed around him as he pushed her to the limit. That was all it took for Dean to fall over the edge and release inside of her. He slowed his motions as they both came down from their high, but he stayed inside of her. They were both breathing hard; their bodies were slick with sweat and she was still pulsing around him.

He dropped his head down to her chest and ghosted his lips over her skin. She ran her fingers through his sweaty hair as they both slowly relaxed.

"That was a good talk," Harper said, a smile in her voice.

"Yes it was," Dean mumbled against Harper. They were quiet for a minute, and then Dean asked, "Have you and Tera really been hunting together?"

"Yeah," Harper softly replied. Dean hesitated; he didn't know how to ask if she was ok hunting with a demon. "She's not so bad…" Harper said before Dean could think of something. "She just takes some time to get used to."

Dean nodded, and then said, "I'm sorry we haven't found a way to kill her yet…we got a little caught up in the last hunt…"

"It's ok," Harper murmured. Her hands were soothing in his hair, almost making him doze off. "What were you guys hunting?"

"Windego…" Dean said sleepily. He nearly shuddered thinking about their last hunt. It hadn't been their best hunt and had nearly cost him both of his brothers. Harper must have felt his reluctance to talk about it because she backed off, but she kept her fingers in his hair for a while.

He felt Harper push on his shoulder, and he reluctantly rolled to his side. Harper tucked herself against his chest, and Dean fell asleep to her slow, even breathing.

* * *

Sam didn't mind sitting outside and hanging out with Tera. Ever since their moment in the kitchen he'd felt drawn to her. He wanted to be around her even though he knew Tera was a demon and it would be a disaster if Dean or Alec ever found out he was starting to like her.

They walked over together to a bench near the house. Since Harper and Tera were tied together, Tera couldn't go too far from the house. Sam sat next to Tera, close enough that their arms were touching.

"So Sam," Tera said after a moment, "You've been a hunter since you were a kid, but the life's killed your mom, your girlfriend, and your dad…so why do you do it?"

Sam glanced over at Tera curiously; she sounded genuinely interested to find out why he was a hunter. "Well, I do it for my brothers. I couldn't do this without them and we help people. We know what's out there and we know how to stop it."

Tera nodded like she was expecting him to say that.

"Can I ask you something?" Sam asked slowly.

"Sure," Tera replied easily. "I'm an open book."

"Have you always been a demon?" Sam asked curiously.

Tera chuckled, "No, I haven't always been a demon. Demon's used to be people before they became demons."

"So you really used to be human? Not just remembering the real Tera's memories or something like that?" He'd never been around a demon long enough to find out their life's story.

Tera sighed, "It's been so long since I've thought about my real life…"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Sam quickly said when Tera trailed off.

Tera shook herself, seemingly coming back to the present. "No, I think it'd be nice if someone knew. My name used to be Isabella Badalamenti."

"Italian?" Sam guessed.

Tera smiled, "Yeah, 1734 Venice."

Sam looked impressed, "That sounds amazing!"

"Sure, especially if you liked falling out of gondolas into putrid water with a corset on," Tera said sarcastically. "That's why I had my first betrothed killed…couldn't trust him with the oar."

"You were betrothed?!" Sam asked, surprised. He couldn't picture Tera agreeing to an arranged marriage. "Did you actually get married?"

"No, of course not!" Tera replied with a laugh. "I hated everyone they tried to pass off on me. I made a deal that would conveniently kill them before the wedding. It was very tragic," Tera said. "Those leeches were just after my family's money anyway and my life was fantastic for those ten years."

"So, no regrets?" Sam thought that sounded like a tough situation. He'd hated not having free will with his family and to be forced to marry someone he didn't love would be a nightmare. But at the same time, she'd sold her soul for that, had gone to Hell for years before she'd come back as a demon. He didn't know what he would do in that situation.

Tera shrugged, "No, I wanted my freedom and that was the way I could get it. And now I get to live in the wonderful modern age where women have free will and some men are more respectful towards women."

Tera looked up at him through her lashes and Sam's heart skipped a beat. He knew he shouldn't be feeling like this, Tera was a demon, but he couldn't help it. Before he could think too much about it, Tera made the move for him.

She crushed her lips to his and he reacted instinctively. He brought is hand up and held Tera in place while his other hand fisted in her hair. She bit his lip and he pulled her hair in return. They were both breathing heavier now as their tongues tangled.

Tera's hand moved his jacket to the side and ran her hand down his chest. He pulled her closer so she was practically sitting on his lap. His fingers slid beneath the edge of her shirt as her lips moved down to his neck.

The sudden sound of footsteps was the only thing that brought him back to where he was. He pulled away from Tera and quickly looked over to see who was headed their way. He could just make out that it was Alec that was staggering towards them. He immediately put some distance between himself and Tera; he just prayed that Alec hadn't noticed. But Alec was giving him a wide, goofy smile as he walked closer.

"Sammy!" Alec called out happily.

Sam chuckled and gave Alec a small wave and casually returned, "Hey Alec."

Alec plopped down in between Sam and Tera. He put his arms over their shoulders, but he leaned slightly against Sam.

"This was a good night!" Alec stated with a decisive nod. "Had a lot of fun. Rufus and Garth and Bear…we had a lot of fun."

"Are you drunk?" Sam asked. Alec was definitely happier than usual and he smelled like alcohol.

"Not drunk, Sammy, just buzzed," Alec replied quickly.

"How much did you drink to get 'just buzzed'?" Sam asked curiously. He really wished Dean was here to see this, but there was no way he was going to interrupt Dean's alone time with Harper.

"A lot! But don't tell Dean 'cause he'd get all growly and say 'Alec…you know better than to drink that much'…He always says stuff like that, but I can't help how much it took to get this buzzed. Besides, it'll wear off really quick. And that Jonny Walker is some strong stuff. It's a good thing Rufus wanted to share. But I'm gonna havta get some more for him since he gave me a lot of his stash," Alec said with a smirk. He looked around suddenly and asked, "Where is Dean anyway?"

"He's inside with Harper," Sam said, nodding to their house. Alec was talking so fast it was hard to keep up with everything he was saying, but Sam caught the last part.

Alec frowned in confusion for a second before his eyes lit up in realization. "Oooohh, I see!"

"Which is why we're outside," Sam explained.

Alec nodded, looking a lot like a bobble head, and then glanced over at Sam. "It's good they get some alone time. They both deserve it. It's good that he can be happy for a while. You need someone too. Everyone needs someone they can be happy with, and y'know I think we deserve to be happy. We do some good. We try to save people so I think we should be happy sometimes too…"

Sam smiled and reached over to ruffle Alec's hair. "You're right buddy, we deserve to be happy," Sam said quietly.

Alec dropped his head against Sam's shoulder suddenly and mumbled, "I'm sleepy…"

Sam chuckled and looked over at Tera, "I'm gonna find him somewhere to sleep, are you going to be ok here?" Tera smiled and nodded back to him. Sam slowly stood up, keeping one hand on Alec's shoulder so he wouldn't fall over. Sam grabbed both of Alec's hands and pulled him to his feet, "C'mon buddy, let's go find a bed." He kept Alec steady just in case; he didn't want Alec to trip or anything.

"Ok Sammy," Alec replied.

"You good to stand by yourself?" Sam asked. Alec nodded and Sam released him. He swayed just a little, but he remained standing. Sam gave Tera a small wave as he and Alec started walking away. "Let's find you some food first…sober you up a little," Sam said after a few steps.

"I'm not drunk, Sammy," Alec argued. "I'm-"

"Buzzed, I know," Sam cut in. "But you should eat before you sleep so you don't get a hangover."

"I don't get hangovers," Alec said.

Sam rolled his eyes, "What have you eaten today?"

Alec stopped walking to think about it, "Um…I had something sometime…"

Sam gently grabbed Alec's elbow and started him moving again. "Ok, pit stop to the Mess Hall, and then find a bed."

"Whatever you say, Sammy," Alec said with a wide smile.

Sam shook his head in amusement. He liked this version of Alec; he was happy and he didn't argue very much. He knew Alec not arguing with him wouldn't last very long, but it was nice to see him all goofy instead of always being put together.

Sam led Alec into the Mess Hall and sat him down at one of the tables while he went looking for some food. The Mess Hall was empty since it was the middle of the night, but Sam knew he could find some food in the kitchen. He found the stuff to make a sandwich, and then brought it out to Alec a few minutes later along with a big glass of water.

"Thanks," Alec said with a smile, but it wasn't as wide as it had been so Sam figured he was starting to sober up. Alec ate pretty fast, and Sam took his plate once he was done. He came back after a moment and waited for Alec to get up, but he just looked up at Sam with raised eyebrows. "Sam, I think I can find my way to Max's place from here…"

Sam shook his head no, "I'm going with you just to make sure."

Alec rolled his eyes, but finally stood up. They walked outside, but they weren't in any hurry. "Hey Sam?" Alec asked quietly after a few steps.

"Yeah?" Sam asked back curiously.

Alec rubbed the back of his neck and asked slowly, "Have you had a girlfriend before?"

Sam gave him a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, I've had a girlfriend…" Alec didn't say anything else; Sam knew he had more questions, but sometimes they had to nudge him along. Sam wasn't really sure where he was going with this, but he could talk until Alec jumped in. "I had a girlfriend for a long time, actually, back in college. We moved in together and everything."

Alec looked over at him in surprise, "Really?"

Sam nodded and cleared his throat, "Yeah, we lived together for about a year…" It was harder to talk about Jess than he thought it would be.

Alec's head popped up suddenly and he asked, "Was her name Jess?"

Sam stopped walking and turned to face Alec, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "How'd you know that?"

"The Djinn we hunted at the hospital a while ago," Alec said. "You said your dream world had a girl named Jess in it…I didn't think to ask about her before…"

"She was alive in my dream world," Sam said sadly. "But the Yellow Eyed Demon, the one that killed my mom, killed her too. That's when I started hunting again. I wanted revenge for what the demon had done, and you helped with that in the graveyard nine months ago."

Sam had thought killing the demon would make him feel better, but it hadn't really. Jess was still gone and there was nothing he could do to bring her back.

"I'm sorry Sam," Alec said softly.

Sam shrugged, and then decided to get back to Alec's original question and asked, "Why'd you want to know if I'd had a girlfriend before?"

Alec ran his hand through his hair and said, "I need girl advice…"

Sam lips tugged up with a smile, "Why do you need girl advice?"

"Never mind, forget it," Alec said quickly.

"No, c'mon Alec, talk to me," Sam said, nudging Alec's arm with his own.

Alec still hesitated, but then he eventually admitted, "I've never had a real girlfriend before…"

"Really?" Sam asked, surprised. Alec was just as smooth as Dean when it came to women. He had asked what he should tell Max the last time they had been here, but Sam had assumed Alec had had a girlfriend before Max.

Alec nodded, but then quickly defended, "I've been with lots of women-mainly to get information or to blow off steam, but I…I fell in love once when I was undercover, but that didn't work out…but I've never been in a real, long-term relationship."

Sam gave Alec a small smile. He wanted to ask his little brother about who he had fallen in love with and what had happened, but he thought he'd have to wait until later. Alec had a tough time admitting just that much to him and he didn't want him to clam up now.

"What kind of girl advice are we talking about here?" Sam asked after a moment.

Alec returned Sam's smile, grateful that Sam wasn't asking him questions about his past. "I wanna do somethin' nice for Max," Alec confessed. Sam smiled and nodded in understanding, but Alec didn't see him and quickly continued, "I mean, don't get me wrong, we have a lot of sex and it's awesome! I know she likes it 'cause she's pretty vocal when it's good. And she scratches up my back sometimes, but that's because I love to tease her. I know just what she likes and I can get her right to the edge before I back off again-"

"Alec," Sam cut off when he realized Alec wasn't going to stop. "That's way more information than I ever wanted to know about your sex life."

Alec gave him a sheepish smile before he said, "Sorry…"

"It's ok," Sam replied.

"So what should I do?" Alec asked, and Sam could suddenly see how young Alec was. He sometimes forgot how much Alec had never experienced before; he always seemed to know what to do and when he didn't, he just covered it up and pretended like he did. Manticore had made it so Alec didn't experience anything he didn't need to, to complete the mission.

Sam patted Alec's back and said, "You should get her something. Most girls like flowers or jewelry, but I can't see Max really liking those." Alec smiled up at him. "But honestly, she's gonna love anything you get her. You thought of her, and that's what matters."

Alec's smile widened, "Thanks Sam."

"Anytime," Sam said sincerely. He really liked being able to give Alec advice; Alec didn't ask often, but he always felt special when he picked him. "Any idea what you're going to get her?" Sam asked after a moment.

Alec thought for a minute. His look suddenly shifted; he smirked and had a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I think I might know of something…"

"Alec," Sam warned. He knew that look. Dean had the same look when he had a bad idea that he knew Sam wouldn't like, and Sam had seen it more than once on Alec.

"Don't worry about it Sammy," Alec replied. Sam wanted to question Alec about his bad idea, but they were in front of a house now and Alec quickly said, "And here we are a Max's place." He opened the door and slipped inside, "I'll see ya later!" he called out before the door closed completely.

Sam didn't know what Alec was going to be up to, but he was going to try and keep an eye on Alec for the next few days. Alec was way too sneaky for his own good, but he didn't want anything to happen to his little brother.

* * *

Alec woke up late the next day. He was still in Max's bed, but he was alone. Max had a lot to do since she was in charge so she would come and go, but he'd still been sleeping in her bed every night. Ever since their house had been invaded by more hunters, Alec had taken to sleeping at Max's place even though some of the hunters had been given their own house.

Alec stood up and stretched; he'd liked being buzzed, but it'd taken way to much alcohol to get him there. He would just have to remember the time fondly since he probably would never be buzzed again.

He wandered through the house and made his way to the kitchen. He knew Max had some food in the fridge since he'd been staying there. He liked late snacks and he didn't like going all the way to the Mess Hall to get food.

Max didn't have very much breakfast food, but she did have frozen waffles. He grabbed two of them and dropped them into the toaster. They popped after a couple minutes and he grabbed them and put them on a plate. He was just about to pour syrup over them when a knock sounded at the door.

He ignored whoever was there and poured his syrup anyway. Whoever it was, was probably looking for Max and they'd get the picture that she wasn't here and look for her somewhere else.

They knocked again as Alec sat at the bar with his waffles. He was just about to take a bite, but the knocking continued.

"Open up kiddo, I know you're in there," Dean called out.

Alec looked up in surprise at hearing Dean's voice. He slid off his stool and quickly opened the door for his big brother. Dean smiled when Alec opened the door and came inside.

"What're you doing?" Alec asked curiously. He knew Dean was leaving tonight for a hunt and he figured he'd be with his team going over what was going to happen.

"Killin' time before the hunt," Dean answered. He walked over to the bar and saw Alec's waffles and immediately went to the freezer to make himself some breakfast.

"How'd you know I was here?"

Dean looked over at him knowingly, "C'mon Alec, you're always here."

"That's a fair point," Alec muttered. "Where's Sam?"

"He's still sleeping. He had a late night," Dean said with a smirk. Dean grabbed his waffles from the toaster and walked over to sit next to Alec at the bar. "So, I wanna ask you about something…" Dean said as he poured syrup over his breakfast. Dean wasn't making eye contact with him so he knew he wasn't going to like whatever Dean wanted to talk about.

"What is it?" Alec asked slowly.

"I was talkin' to Rocky last night and he mentioned-"

"Wait," Alec quickly cut off. He didn't know exactly what Rocky had told Dean, but he knew it wasn't something he really wanted to talk about. He knew Dean wouldn't make him talk about it if he didn't want to, but he had another idea. "I'm guessing whatever it is, it has to do with Manticore." Dean nodded so Alec continued, "In exchange for me tellin' you about whatever it is that Rocky talked about-"

"Alec, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Dean quickly interrupted.

"I know," Alec replied. "But I wanna know about something too…something about you and Sam…"

"What is it?" Dean asked slowly.

"Sam mentioned last night that he went to college…but neither of you have ever talked about it before…" Alec said. Dean froze when he said that and he figured Dean wasn't going to answer him at all.

Dean took a deep breath and finally nodded, "Yeah, Sam went to college…"

Alec quirked his head to the side; he wasn't sure why Sam going to college would be such a bad thing. "I'm still a little out of it on the whole being normal thing, but aren't people usually happy about going to college?"

Dean huffed a laugh and shook his head in amusement. He reached out and messed up Alec's hair and Alec let him. "I'm sure a lot of people are happy to go to college, but we're not normal, kiddo." Alec raised his eyebrows, silently asking for Dean to tell him what happened. Dean sighed and said, "Sam and Dad never really got along…they were too alike and headstrong. Sam always wanted to go to school, but Dad was all about the hunt. They had a fight when Sam said he was leaving…He'd gotten a full ride to Stanford…"

Alec could hear how proud Dean had been of Sam for getting a full ride to college. He wanted to ask, but he decided to wait and let Dean talk.

"I didn't know what to do when Sam and Dad were fighting. I didn't say anything…I think I was in shock because I knew Sam was leaving…and Sam was so mad. He looked at me like I betrayed him. And Dad told him to go and to stay gone, and that's what he did. I tried calling after he left and started school, but he never answered…"

Dean trailed off and Alec waited for him to say something else. He had a million questions going through his head and if Dean didn't start talking again soon; he wouldn't be able to hold back.

"I gave up after a while, but I would check on him if I was in the area…I was proud of him for going to college, but…he cut me out completely. There were times that I just wanted to talk to him and see how it was going, but he never picked up. There were a lot of times where hunts had gone wrong and I was by myself…A couple of close calls…" Dean trailed off with a distant look in his eyes.

Alec couldn't hold in his questions any longer and since it appeared Dean wasn't going to keep going, he let them out, "How'd you guys make up? How did Jess die? Did you know Jess? Why wouldn't Sam answer the phone? Where was your dad when-"

"Alec, I can only answer one at a time," Dean interrupted.

"Ok, how'd you guys make up?" Alec repeated.

"Dad went missing," Dean said. "I went to where Sam was living and asked him to help me look for him. He'd never been gone that long and I didn't want to look for him alone. He didn't want to go, but he eventually agreed."

"How does Jess play into this?"

"She was Sam's girlfriend." Dean looked down guiltily, and then said, "When we went to look for Dad, Sam said he had to be back by Monday for some interview or something. We didn't find Dad, but we hunted the last thing he'd been after. When I dropped Sam off, I guess Jess was on the ceiling…the demon killed her, and then Sam wanted revenge so he got back into hunting with me."

Alec thought for a minute, and then asked quietly, "Why wouldn't Sam answer your calls?" He knew firsthand how close Sam and Dean were; it seemed impossible for them to be apart for that long without talking or anything. Alec hadn't been with them for very long, but even he couldn't imagine going a day without talking to one of his brothers.

Dean took a deep breath and ran his hand down his face, "Well, I guess, Sam was too mad at me for a while to talk to me. I hadn't defended him against Dad so he was pissed. But then he told me he was afraid I would talk him into coming back."

Alec didn't know what to say to Dean to make it better. It had obviously been a tough time for his big brother and he would've regretted asking, but he felt like he knew them better now. It made more sense now when Sam and Dean would fall into a tense silence or how they would steer away from those years when Sam was gone.

"So, that's enough of that," Dean said after a moment. He cut off a big bite of waffle and stuffed it in his mouth.

Alec waited until Dean was almost done chewing when he asked, "Ok, so, what did you want to know?"

"Rocky said you had a twin," Dean stated without wasting any time.

It was Alec's turn to freeze; he hardly ever thought about his twin, which was on purpose. It was his twin's fault that he'd been sent to psy-ops more than once and he'd been picked up for his twin's murders. 493 was the cause of a lot of his pain back at Manticore, and he'd never really forgiven him for that. He'd softened up a little bit towards him since Max had told him how his twin, Ben, had died.

"Yeah, I had a twin," Alec replied, his voice cold.

Dean looked over at him in surprise, "I'm going to guess that you don't really like him much…"

"493…um, Ben, escaped Manticore with Max when they were nine. I wasn't in his unit, but I'd heard about the escape…but the next thing I knew, two guards were there to take me to psy-ops…"

Alec remembered most of his times in pys-ops, but that one had been one of the worst. He'd tried to block it out, but it didn't work, no matter what he did, he couldn't forget.

"I didn't know why I was there…I didn't think I'd done anything wrong…That was the worst part. They were practically torturing me, but I didn't know why. They'd finally let slip that it was 493 and I knew he was part of the escape…I was there for six months before they finally cleared me, deciding that I wasn't going to follow in my twins' footsteps."

Alec saw Dean's fists clench, but he didn't say anything. Alec knew Dean hated Manticore, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"They brought me back in…" Alec stopped to think for a minute. "I guess over two years ago…I don't really remember, but I went back to psy-ops because my twin had gone crazy and had started killing people. I didn't know that at the time, it was like when I was a kid. They just grabbed me and took me to psy-ops. I didn't find out a lot about Ben until after I was out of Manticore…"

"What happened to him?" Dean asked softly.

"Max had to kill him," Alec stated. "He was killing people and taking their teeth, and Max being Max she had to stop him. I guess Lydecker was closing in on them and Ben had a broken leg so they couldn't both get away. Death is the better alternative to going back to Manticore."

"You never met him?" Dean asked.

Alec shook his head no, "We were in different units and he was dead before I got out of Manticore. I hated him though, for a long time…" Alec glanced over at Dean and was surprised to see he looked sad. "It's really not a big deal…I was in psy-ops a lot, these just sucked since I didn't deserve it those times."

"You didn't deserve it those other times either, Alec," Dean said seriously.

Alec just shrugged back; he knew when he messed up he'd need to be punished and he was ok with that. He'd grown up with that so he was used to it.

"Was that all you wanted to know?" Alec asked.

"For now," Dean replied with a small smile.

A smile tugged at his own lips; he knew Sam and Dean both wanted to know more about Manticore, but he didn't know how to tell them. Sam and Dean were both good men and he'd done things without even questioning them. He wasn't a good person, but he was afraid to reveal his worst side to them. He knew he was selfish for not telling them because he didn't want to lose his family, but he didn't care. He'd never had a family before and he wasn't going to give them up.

Dean looked like he was about to say something else, but the door opening stopped him. They both looked to see Max walking in. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Dean was there too, but she smiled after just a moment.

"Hey Dean, what're you doing here?" Max asked as she walked in.

"Was lookin' for my little brother," Dean replied. He ruffled Alec's hair as he stood up. "I'll catch up with ya again before I leave," Dean said to Alec before he started walking to the door.

Alec nodded his ok and Dean left leaving him and Max alone.

"What did Dean want," Max asked curiously. She walked over to him and kissed his cheek, sitting down in Dean's abandoned seat.

Alec hesitated; he didn't want to bring up bad memories for Max, but he didn't want to lie to her either. "He wanted to know about Ben," Alec finally said. Max's mouth dropped open, but Alec quickly said, "Rocky mentioned him last night and Dean…Sam and Dean both like making me bare my soul." Alec tried to cover up with humor, but he was still a little too raw to do it convincingly.

Max put her hand on his shoulder, but she didn't ask him about it. Ben was harder for Max to talk about since he was pretty much her family. She'd been nearly in tears when she told him about how she had to kill him, which was the first time he had been able to comfort her.

That had been a turning point in their relationship. She'd opened up to him, and after she told him, he understood why she hadn't liked him. He reminded her of Ben every time she looked at him. He was grateful that she seemed to have gotten over that since they were actually together now.

Alec grabbed her hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles. "What were you up to last night?" Alec asked to change the subject.

"Scheduling supply runs," Max said with a shrug. "What did you do?"

"I went to Rocky's bar," Alec said. "I got buzzed for the first time."

Max's head popped up in surprise, "You drank enough to get buzzed? How was it?"

"It was pretty fun," Alec said, chuckling. "But I had to drink a lot and it didn't last very long."

"I wish I could've seen it." Max leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Alec pulled back after a moment and said, "Y'know, I missed my cuddling last night…"

Max gave him a smile and teased, "I'm sorry, but you sleep way more than I do and I had work to do." She thought for a moment, and then said, "I still do actually…I was just stopping by to get a change of clothes…"

"Don't let me keep you," Alec said, pecking Max on the cheek.

Max got up and started walking back to her room. "Do you want to help me in Command later?" Max asked over her shoulder.

Alec took a bite of his waffle and mumbled around his mouthful, "Nah, I've got somethin' I've gotta do today…"

Max peeked back around the corner, scowling at him, "What are you doing today? Hunting lessons aren't every day since we still have to do supply runs and I thought your group had the day off completely."

"It's nothin'…I just have to run to town to get some things," Alec hedged, but then quickly added, "And don't worry, I'll take backup this time."

"What are you getting?" Max asked, slowly walking back into the room.

"Just some of our more…hard to come by supplies," Alec said.

"You're going out for more liquor and cigars again?" Max said with a frown.

"Well, since I drank half of Rufus's stash last night I gotta get him some more and Mole's still pissed that I didn't get him any cigars on my last run," Alec explained. Now he was going to have to actually pick those things up too. He was really going out to get Max a gift.

"Who are you taking for backup?"

"Bear for sure…maybe Rocky if I can catch him before his hunt," Alec said.

"Alright, well, be careful…" Max said after a minute. She gave him another quick kiss before she walked towards the door. "And find me when you get back so I know you didn't get yourself killed."

"Ahh, Maxie, you're so sweet when you're worried," Alec said sarcastically.

Max scowled at him, but then more seriously said, "Just be careful."

"I will be," Alec said with a smile.

Max tried to fight off a smile, but failed. She rolled her eyes at him before she walked out of the house.

* * *

 _More (hopefully) soon..._


	11. Chapter 11

Alec walked from Max's house to Bear and Rocky's house. He was still raw from talking with Dean about Ben, but he thought he could walk it off, and then distract himself by doing something reckless and stupid. He'd tried to cover up how much talking about Ben had bothered him, but he wasn't sure he'd convinced Dean entirely.

He tried so hard to block out his time in psy-ops, but no matter what, it just kept coming back. All of the pain and confusion from being strapped to that chair and having the laser burning his eye swirled around in his head constantly. He felt drained just remembering it.

 _They took the restraints off of his arms and from around his chest. In the back of his head he knew it was time to move, but he couldn't. His body wasn't listening to him and even if it was, his legs wouldn't be able to support him right now._

 _The guards grabbed his arms and hauled him up. He didn't even have the strength to keep his head from falling forward. The labcoat walked over and lifted his chin. The labcoat checked his pupils, and then looked to the guards._

 _"Two hours down then bring him back," the labcoat said dismissively._

 _The guards nodded and started to drag him out of the room._

Alec shook his head to get rid of the memory. The only way for him to keep himself together would be to suppress those times and just not think about them again. That was the only way he knew how to deal with things and so far it worked for him. Dean knew how to get him to open up, but he didn't want to make that a habit.

What he needed to do was find Bear. He knew what he wanted to get Max, but he really did need backup for this and since Bear and Rocky were new here, they hopefully wouldn't disagree with his plan. They hopefully wouldn't know about TC and what had happened there. He knew Sam and Dean wouldn't ever allow him to do this, which was why he was going to be very vague with them if they caught him and asked him where he was going. He loved his brothers, but he wanted to do this.

He knocked on Bear's door and waited for her or Rocky to answer. He didn't know if she would agree to do this, but there was only one way to find out.

Bear opened the door, but then raised her eyebrow in a silent question, "I did not think there were hunting lessons today."

"There's not," Alec quickly replied. "But I need some backup to go into town. You busy?"

Bear looked back into the house before she glanced back at him, "What are we going into town for?"

Alec hesitated, "…There's just some supplies we need…"

"Alec, I can tell that you are hiding something," Bear said with a smirk.

"I'm getting Max a present…sort of," Alec admitted.

Bear's eyes lit up with excitement, "What are we getting her?"

"Something she left behind," Alec vaguely replied.

Bear thought for a moment before she nodded decisively, "I will go with you."

"Great," Alec said with a wide smile.

He turned and started walking back the way he came, but stopped when Bear called out, "Are we going now?"

Alec turned back towards her and smirked, "I don't see any reason to wait."

"Am I the only backup you are taking?" Bear asked suspiciously.

"Is Rocky in the house?" Alec asked instead of answering.

"No," Bear said slowly. "He went to Command to find Dean. He said he wanted to be ready for the hunt."

"Then it looks like it's just me and you then," Alec said. "C'mon, we've got a lot to do."

Alec didn't wait for Bear before he started walking again, but he heard her footsteps behind him a few seconds later. Alec slowed when he got closer to Command; he didn't want anyone to see him and Bear sneaking out of this place, which would alert his brothers of his actions and prevent him from ever leaving.

"Alec, why are we sneaking?" Bear whispered as Alec pressed his back against the wall of a house. A transgenic walked by, but luckily didn't notice them. "You look very suspicious if you are sneaking…"

"I just don't want this to be a crowded trip. If anyone sees me then they'll ask questions and they might even want to join in. I'm a little popular," Alec said with a cocky smirk.

"And so modest," Bear replied sarcastically. Alec shrugged and peeked around the corner to make sure it was clear. "You are getting me in trouble aren't you?" Bear asked after a moment.

"You won't get into trouble as long as we don't get caught," Alec replied mischievously. "I'll probably get in trouble either way. My brothers are a wee bit overprotective of me and really if they find out, this whole operation is over."

"I am going to regret this," Bear muttered.

"Don't be so dramatic…" Alec said, starting to sneak closer to the garage.

"I do not think I am the dramatic one in this duo," Bear shot back.

Alec rolled his eyes and led the way into the garage. He was so tempted to steal the Impala, but he did actually value his life. Dean would kill him if he found out that he stole his Baby. Instead, he led the way to a busted, red four-door and got in the driver's seat. Bear stomped over to the passenger's side and slid in next to him. Alec quickly hotwired the car, signaled for Link to let them through, and then headed for town.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want another hunter to go with you?" Sam asked again. "Me, or Bobby, or Alec…any one of us will go with you…" Dean rolled his eyes; Sam was worried about this hunt even though it was just one little vampire nest and he had a whole team of transgenics going with him.

"Sam, I'm going to be fine," Dean said with a sigh. "You remember Alec on his first hunt? He was a natural." Dean walked around the sofa and sat on the opposite end of Sam.

Dean had walked back to their house after talking to Alec since he knew Sam was still nervous about the hunt. He wanted to reassure Sam as much as possible before he left and he knew it was going to take some time. He was going to find Alec again after he convinced Sam that he would be fine. It was going to be weird hunting without them again, but he actually wasn't that worried about the hunt. But that could be because he was still shaken up from talking to Alec.

He always wanted to know more about Alec's time at Manticore, but as soon as Alec told him, he always wished he hadn't brought it up. He hated it when his brothers were in pain, and there was nothing he could do to change the years of pain that Alec had had to endure. He could see how much even talking about the past hurt his little brother, but now he understood more of what Alec had gone through.

"But we were hunting a spirit then and we were both there. This time it's a nest of vampires and it's just you with a bunch of new hunters," Sam argued, snapping Dean back to the conversation.

"New hunters who happen to be trained soldiers that know how to handle a weapon and follow orders," Dean stated, and then added, "And if I remember right, Alec's first hunt was more than one spirit."

Sam shot him his famous bitch face, which made Dean's lips tug up in a small smile. Sam let out a long sigh, but then finally relented, "Just promise you'll be careful and that you'll call if you need help."

Dean took a deep breath, and then nodded, "Yeah Sam, I promise."

Sam looked at him for a moment longer before he must have decided he was telling the truth. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Sam asked, "Did you find Alec?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah, he slept at Max's place again."

Sam nodded like he already knew that, and then asked, "Did he say if he was doing anything today?"

Dean shrugged, "I don't think so…why?"

"I think he's gonna do something stupid…" Sam muttered.

Dean chuckled, "What makes you think that?"

"Well, for one, he's Alec," Sam said with a huff of laugh. "And two, we talked about it last night when he was buzzed."

Dean looked up in surprise, "He was buzzed? You're joking!"

Sam chuckled, "No, I'm not joking. It was pretty funny to see."

"Man, wish I could've seen that…" Dean said, shaking his head. "What d'you think he's gonna do?"

"He wants to get something for Max, but I have no idea what," Sam said, running his hand through his hair. "I just wanna keep an eye on him so he can't do something stupid."

"Well, he was still at Max's place, and I left when Max got there so I'm guessin' he's not going anywhere for a while," Dean said with a smirk.

"I still want to keep an eye out," Sam muttered.

"Sammy, you worry too much," Dean said, getting up and walking to the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee and nodded to Sam to ask if he wanted some. Sam shrugged his ok and Dean poured him a cup too and brought it over.

"I wouldn't worry as much if I didn't have two reckless brothers who didn't like to take backup," Sam pointed out.

"I told you, I'll have backup," Dean said.

"Five new hunters are not backup," Sam grumbled.

"You better just give it up, little brother," Dean said. "I'm not changing my mind."

Sam grumbled something unintelligible, but Dean just ignored him. He would be fine and he knew the hunt would go off without a hitch.

* * *

"Alec, what are we doing here?" Bear hissed beside him. She did not sound happy, which he hadn't been expecting. He didn't think she had known about what had happened in TC. But the glare she was currently shooting at him told him something completely different.

"We're getting Max's gift," Alec said slowly, ignoring Bear's look. They were currently hiding in an alley by the fence surrounding TC. He'd picked this alley because he considered it lucky; it was where Sam and Dean had hit him with their car and taken him in. He smiled a little at the memory.

 _He braced his ribs with his hand as he half limped, half jogged closer to the fence. The cops behind him were getting closer and he just hoped they wouldn't start shooting._

 _There wasn't much on the other side of the fence, just a back alley that only one car at a time could fit through. He just had to make it over the fence and out into the main part of the city before the cops could find a way over. If he could do that then he knew he would be free._

 _Just as the cops were in range, Alec made it to the fence. He didn't waste any time, he just jumped high up and over the fence. His landing was a little off and he had to take a few steps into the alley to gain his balance, but he had made it._

 _The screeching of tires suddenly sounded behind him, but he didn't have time to jump out of the way; he only had time to turn a little. The car hit him at his left knee and he rolled part way up the hood and then off, back onto the pavement, landing on his chest._

 _The world was going in and out as he lay on the ground. Faint footsteps were coming towards him and a moment later, gentle hands touched his shoulder. They turned him carefully until he was on his back, but the world had gone mostly dark so he couldn't see if it was the cops or not._

 _"Whoa…" A man breathed out._

 _"Holy shit, Dean! That's him!" The voice belonged to a man, but he sounded really far away._

 _"I know…he came out of nowhere!" So there were two men, but this one was closer._

 _"We need to go; the cops are coming this way…"_

 _"I know Sam! Help me get him to the car…"_

 _He felt the men gently lift him up, and then he was in the backseat of their car._

 _The rumble of the car was strangely comforting as he drifted in a limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness. The men didn't say anything as they sped down the streets of Seattle. He didn't know where they were taking him, if they were planning on helping him or not, or even who they were, but there was nothing he could do because a moment later he succumbed to the darkness and was too tired to fight his way back._

Who knew those two men would become his brothers? They had saved him and given him a home; he could never repay them for that. He felt a little guilty now going behind their backs and sneaking out to purposefully put himself in danger, but he was already here.

"Alec, we can still turn back," Bear tried to bargain. "We can find Max another gift."

Alec shook his head, "Nah, we'll be in and out. It'll be a piece of cake."

"Alec," Bear sighed.

"It'll be fine. The patrols have dropped down a lot more since the breakout, I know exactly where it is, I just need you to keep a lookout," Alec said quickly.

Bear scowled, "I am not just keeping a lookout."

"Ok, ok," Alec said, putting his hands up in surrender. "We'll both go."

"I still do not like it," Bear grumbled.

"I know," Alec replied, "Let's go."

He stood up and quickly jumped over the fence. Bear landed next to him after a second and they both jogged to the closest building for cover.

"Where exactly-"

"Middle of TC," Alec cut Bear off before she could finish.

"Are you serious?" Bear asked incredulously. "We have to make it all the way to the middle and back. You are insane, Alec."

Alec shot her a cocky grin before he took off again.

* * *

"Where the hell is he?" Dean grumbled.

"No one's seen him," Sam replied. He was kicking himself for not immediately finding Alec, he should have known better. What he actually should have done was stick around with Alec last night when he knew where he was, and then put him on house arrest.

"I gotta get going…" Dean muttered to himself. They were inside their house, but everyone else was waiting for them outside. They were pushing up the hunt since another body had turned up, but Dean had still wanted to say goodbye to Alec before he left. So far, Alec was nowhere to be found.

"Dean, try calling him again," Sam suggested.

Dean shook his head, "I've already tried five times. I don't think sixth time's the charm…"

"I'll tell him to call as soon as he gets here," Sam tried to reason. He couldn't think of any other way to get Dean to go on his hunt without Alec actually being there. "He probably figured he had enough time to go do whatever it is he's doing and be back in time before you left. I'm sure he's fine."

"That's not what you were saying this morning," Dean said.

Sam rolled his eyes, but didn't disagree. He was pretty sure Alec was getting himself into trouble, but there was nothing he could do about it since he didn't know where he was.

"Alright," Dean finally decided. "Tell him to call me as soon as he gets here, ok?"

"I will," Sam promised.

Dean nodded and started walking towards the door and Sam followed him. He still hadn't been able to convince Dean to take another hunter with him, but with Alec missing he figured he shouldn't push things too far. He would just have to worry about both of his brothers until they were back.

"Are you two finally ready or what?" Mole grumbled as soon as they were outside. All of Freak Valley had come out to see them leave. This was the first group to go hunting and everyone was excited about it.

"Keep your shirt on, Mole," Dean said with a smirk. "You don't know yet, but this is traditional in hunting."

Sam rolled his eyes and Mole asked sarcastically, "It's traditional to get your panties in a wad? 'Cause that sounds like somethin' just you and Sam do."

"Shut up," Dean said, pushing his way past Mole to get to his team. Rocky, Lucky, Gem, Leo, and Penny were all waiting together near the Impala and another car that they were going to take. Sam felt pretty good having Rocky on Dean's team; the guy was huge and Sam figured Rocky wouldn't let anything happen to his brother.

"We ready to go?" Rocky asked as they walked up.

"Yeah," Dean said with his head down. Sam knew he was still worried about Alec, but he needed to get his head in the hunt. If he went distracted like this, he could get hurt.

"Dean-"

"I'm fine Sam."

"You boys ready," Bobby asked, walking up to them with Rufus behind him. "You've got a lot of work to do finding that nest and taking care of the vamps with a bunch of new hunters."

"I'm not going, Bobby," Sam said. "Dean thinks he's got enough backup."

Bobby shot Dean a stern look and Rufus chuckled and muttered, "Oh, here we go."

"You think five new hunters are backup?" Bobby asked incredulously.

"Booby-"

"Ya idjit! Have I taught you nothing? You're takin' an experienced hunter with you. I don't care who it is, but you need someone to help ya out here," Bobby said.

"Fine," Dean ground out between clenched teeth. Sam couldn't help his smug smile; he didn't care that it was Bobby who got Dean to accept taking backup, he was just glad that Dean was going to take some. "Get in the car old man," Dean said, and then he looked to Sam and said, "You and Rufus go out and look for Alec."

"Dean, I-"

"I'm sure he's fine too, Sam," Dean interrupted. "I'd just feel better if you went out and looked for him."

"Alright Dean, I'll look for him," Sam reassured.

Dean patted him on the shoulder and smiled, "You might want to check the police scanners knowing him…"

Sam chuckled, "Ok, Dean. Don't worry, we'll find him."

"I know you will Sam," Dean said.

"Are we going to hunt or not?" Bobby asked from the front seat of the Impala.

Dean rolled his eyes, but walked around to the driver's side. He and Bobby waved as they pulled away from their house.

* * *

Alec held up his hand to signal for them to stop. Three cops walked by, but they didn't see him or Bear. There were more cops in this place than he expected. They were all wearing gas masks since TC was toxic to ordinaries, but he would've thought they would give up by now. Especially since there was no reason for a transgenic to come back here.

"How much further?" Bear whispered to him.

"We just have to get into that building across the street," Alec whispered back. They were so close. If they could just make it into Command then they would be home free.

Alec started forward, but he knew instantly that it had been a mistake. He heard the click of a gun and took off running. Alec glanced over his shoulder and saw the cop he missed hanging out on the roof. The cop lined up another shot, but Bear tackled him out of the way before the shot could even come close.

Alec pushed Bear off of him and grumbled, "It wasn't even close…"

Before either of them could say anything else, a tranquilizer dart shot into the ground next to them.

"Jeez, that guy's a terrible shot," Alec muttered as he jumped back to his feet.

"Not the time, Alec," Bear hissed.

"Freeze," A voice called out through a megaphone. "If you come quietly, no one will get hurt."

Two teams of cops came forward to surround them, armed to the teeth and each pointing a gun at them. There were 16 men against the two of them, plus the man on the roof. Alec scanned the surrounding rooftops and saw three more men standing and watching.

"Not great odds, but I think we'll be ok," Alec casually said to Bear.

Bear sighed, but kept her eyes on the cops.

Alec put his hands up and nodded for Bear to do the same. Two cops stepped forward once they surrendered; one walked towards him and the other to Bear.

Alec waited and let the cop grab his arm and pull it behind his back. He smirked over at Bear and she rolled her eyes back at him. The cuff snapped around his wrist and he instantly went into action. He yanked his arm with the cuff on it, and the cop still holding onto the other end, and surprised the cop into stumbling closer to him.

He grabbed the cop and turned him to face the guy on the roof who had brought his gun up to aim at him. He used the cop as a human shield and let him take the tranq dart instead of him. The cop was immediately knocked out, and Alec was stuck holding his dead weight.

The other cops had started to move forward. Alec picked up the unconscious cop and threw him. He took out two cops with that one, and then turned to take on another that was getting too close. He knocked the gun out of the cop's hand and took the guy out with a solid punch to the jaw.

"Alec, down," Bear called out.

Alec dropped without question. Bear brought one of the cop's guns around and shot a cop that was behind him. Alec jumped up as soon as Bear hit the target and ripped a gun away from a cop, and then kicked the guy back into the wall.

He dropped to his knee and aimed up at one of the guys on the roof. He shot that one and quickly shifted over to the next one. That one was already aiming at him, and they both shot at the same time. Alec rolled out of the way right after he fired, making the tranq dart intended for him imbed itself in a cop who had been coming up behind him.

"Bear! It's time to go," Alec said. More cops were coming and he knew their luck wouldn't last forever.

Bear hit one of the cops with the gun in her hand and turned and looked for his signal. Alec shot the cop with the best angle on them, and then took off running for Command. The cops weren't ready for them to suddenly take off, so he and Bear were already to the building by the time they figured it out.

Alec slammed the door shut behind Bear as soon as she was inside. They didn't waste any time barricading the door; if they could find what he was looking for then they wouldn't be here for long anyway.

Alec led the way down the hall at a jog. It was weird being back here after all this time; everything was familiar, but at the same time he hadn't missed this place. Alec grabbed Bear's arm as he made a quick turn into the main part of Command.

The door was off its hinges, chairs were turned over, and there were bullet holes in the wall. It was just like he left it.

"Alec, is Max's gift in here?" Bear asked quietly, but with a sense of urgency in her voice.

"No," Alec said and Bear sighed. Alec ignored her and worked at picking the lock on the cuff around his wrist. He finally got it and dropped the handcuffs to the floor.

"Then what are we doing here?" Bear asked impatiently.

"Grabbing Mole a gift," Alec replied. He walked over to a desk and opened the top drawer. Papers and files filled the drawer, but Alec pushed all of those out of the way and pulled up the false bottom. Mole's cigars were revealed, which Alec grabbed and held up for Bear to see. "Mole thinks he's so sneaky hiding them in here…"

"Great, can we go now please," Bear asked, unimpressed.

Alec huffed, but nodded and led the way to where Max kept her Ninja. They could hear the footsteps of the cops making their way closer, but he knew they were almost done.

Max's motorcycle finally came into view and Alec smiled. He knew Max loved this thing and she probably missed it. He had always thought she looked like a badass riding her motorcycle; he just hoped she wouldn't be too mad that he'd come out here to get it.

"Are you joking?" Bear asked. "We are not riding this thing. I do not ride motorcycles."

"No other choice," Alec said with a smirk. "There's no backup plan to get out of here."

"Alec," Bear growled.

Alec swung his leg over the bike, "Just pray that it starts." It took him three tries to get the motorcycle to start, but he did get it. "C'mon Bear, I don't have another way outta here."

Bear scowled at him, but stomped over after a moment's hesitation. She hopped on behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. "Do not tip this thing over."

"Bear, I won't let you fall off, ok? But you're gonna have to loosen your grip a little or else I might pass out," Alec said.

Bear loosened her arms very slightly and Alec kicked the bike into gear.

* * *

"Tell me your plan again, 'cause I still don't get it," Rufus grumbled. "I don't see how runnin' 'round Seattle is gonna help ya find the kid."

"He's looking for a gift for Max…he had to go to town for that, which is why we're driving around town," Sam explained patiently.

"What if he's not done getting Max a gift by the time we find him?" Garth asked from the backseat. Sam had tried to get out of there with just Rufus, but Garth had seen them and tagged along. "We're gonna help him, right?"

"We gotta find 'im first, which we won't 'cause this plan sucks," Rufus said.

"It doesn't suck," Sam mumbled, stopping at the light.

"Yeah it does," Rufus argued.

Sam shook his head, but decided to drop it. He was the one driving, so he'd be the one making the decisions. Not only that, but Alec was _his_ brother, not theirs. He would decide how they found him, and Rufus grumbling about it wouldn't change his mind.

Sam could suddenly hear sirens in the distance. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw what looked like a motorcycle being chased by at least three cop cars and they were all coming this way.

Sam expected them to just speed by them, but the motorcycle was slowing down to actually stop at the light. Sam looked over and nearly lost it when he saw Alec and Bear on the back of the bike.

"Hey Sam," Alec casually greeted.

"Alec! What the hell are you doing?!" Sam asked, outraged.

"I'm outrunnin' some cops," Alec said with a smile.

"Why are you stopping?!" Sam was freaking out, but Rufus was laughing next to him.

"I recognized the car," Alec said simply. "It's from the garage in Freak Valley."

"Can I get in their car now please?" Bear practically begged.

"Nah, this is just a quick stop to say hi," Alec replied. "Hey Rufus." Alec waved at the older hunter when Sam leaned back in his chair. Garth suddenly rolled down the back window and Alec brightened, "Oh hey, Garth's there too."

"Alec…" Sam said with a sigh.

"Sam, I really wish I had time to talk, but I'm a little bit busy right now," Alec said, shooting a glance behind him. "I'll see ya at the house!"

The light turned green and Alec took off. Sam fumbled for a moment before he floored it after his little brother. The cops were behind him now, but all that mattered was that they didn't get ahold of Alec.

"Was this part of the plan?" Rufus asked in amusement.

Sam just scowled back in reply. He knew Alec would do something stupid; he should've kept a closer eye on him. Now all he could do was hope the cops didn't catch up to them.

"Left Sam! Left!" Garth yelled from the back, pulling Sam back into the chase.

Sam quickly turned the car left after Alec. Rufus reached out for anything he could to keep from falling over, and then he shot Sam a dirty look as soon as they were going straight again.

Sam stayed on Alec's tail as they made their way through the city. The cops slowly started to fall behind as Alec wove an intricate trail. Sam was impressed by how well his little brother knew the city, but he'd forgotten that Alec had lived here for a while.

Alec motioned to the right after a few more blocks, and Sam followed him without even thinking about it. They pulled in behind an abandoned warehouse, and he was surprised when Alec started slowing down, but he still followed his lead. Alec quickly hopped off his motorcycle and blurred over to the corner of the warehouse to see around it.

"It's clear!" Alec called out after a moment.

Sam sighed and slowly got out of the car with Rufus and Garth. "Alec, what are we doing?"

"We should hang out here for a while until things calm down a little," Alec said, walking back over.

Sam wanted to yell and scream and tear Alec a new one, but he was really just relieved that his little brother was ok. He was still mad, but he would get to that later. He walked the rest of the way to Alec and pulled him in for a hug. Alec's eyes widened when Sam reached out for him, like he was expecting something unpleasant instead of a hug.

Alec's arms slowly wrapped around him to return the hug and he quietly reassured, "I'm alright, Sammy."

"I know…I was just worried," Sam said. He patted Alec on the back before he finally released him. Alec looked uncertain about what to do so Sam asked, "What'd you end up getting for Max?"

Alec gave him a small smile, and then glanced over at the motorcycle.

"Seriously?" Sam asked, surprised.

Alec shrugged, "It was already hers, she just left it behind."

Sam broke out into a smile, "You're something else, you know that?"

Alec smiled too and tried to dodge Sam pushing his shoulder, but he couldn't. They were interrupted from their horseplay by Bear staggering over to them.

"Never again, Alec. Never again," Bear said with a glare.

Alec chuckled and shook his head, "Sorry Bear. That was the only way out of there."

Bear huffed and stomped away from them.

"You know just because you're fine, it doesn't get you off the hook," Sam said after a minute.

"Sam-" Alec started to argue, but Sam cut him off before he could get going.

"And, you gotta call Dean."

* * *

"Is hunting always this boring?" Rocky complained. He leaned against the wall and Lucky chuckled beside him.

"Guys, I know it seems stupid, but we've gotta cover all our bases," Dean said. This was their second abandoned house, and so far, no vampires. It was still daylight, but Dean was hoping he'd find the nest with all of the vamps asleep.

"How many more houses do we have?" Gem asked, coming up behind him. He, Rocky, Lucky, and Gem were all searching the top floor while Bobby, Leo, and Penny were searching the bottom. It was faster for them to split up, but they all still had enough backup to get away with it.

"Hopefully only one," Lucky mumbled.

"Three," Dean admitted. They had narrowed down where the vampires could be staying back at Freak Valley. There were only five possible places where they would like to hole up, and now they were down to three.

Lucky and Rocky both groaned, but Gem shot them both a look to shut up. Dean ignored all three of them and led the way into the next room. It was empty just like all the others.

Dean was just about to turn around when his phone started to ring in his pocket. He jumped and quickly got his phone out and answered the call.

"Yeah?"

"Hey Dean, heard you were freakin' out and left early for the hunt," Alec said.

"I wasn't freakin' out," Dean argued. "But yeah, I had to leave early for the hunt. Teammates were gettin' a little antsy."

"Well this is the check in call to let you know that I'm ok," Alec said. "Sam practically dialed your number for me."

"Guess you know how much trouble you're in," Dean said with a small smile.

"Hey, I took backup," Alec defended. "I don't see a problem."

"You didn't answer your phone," Dean pointed out. "When you go missing without telling anyone, and then don't answer your phone, we get worried, especially in our line of business. We're a little paranoid."

"There're so many rules to this whole family thing," Alec muttered. Dean could just picture him running his hand through his hair, and then rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey, I get that this is still new to you," Dean said. "We just worry about you, kiddo."

"I know…and I'm trying to get used to it…" Alec said.

"I know you are," Dean reassured. He cleared his throat, and then said, "And thanks for the call. I was freakin' out a little."

"Good luck on the hunt, Dean," Alec said, a smile in his voice.

"See ya when I get back," Dean replied, and then hung up.

* * *

Alec's heart was pounding. He was following Sam on Max's bike, but he was starting to get extremely nervous. He'd never given anyone a gift in his life; he had no idea what he was doing. He was so messed up; he didn't know how to give a gift and he had no idea how to be in a family, but he could think of 12 different ways to kill a man with his bare hands. Thanks Manticore.

It was a blur coming back into Freak Valley; he didn't even remember coming through the gate. But Sam was pulling over in front of Command, and he had to stop the motorcycle before he flew right by it. He felt like he was going to be sick. What if Max didn't like it? What if she was too mad at him for going to get it that she completely ignored the thought behind it? What if she didn't care about the bike anymore? She had time to go get it if she really wanted to, but she hadn't. This whole thing could've been a huge mistake.

"Alec," Sam said next to him, making him jump in surprise. "Hey, it's gonna be fine," Sam tried to reassure, easily picking up that he was freaking out.

"Sam, I think I'm gonna be sick," Alec confessed, swinging his leg off of the motorcycle to stand.

"She's going to love it, Alec," Sam said. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

Alec nodded as Sam turned away from him and walked up to the house. He only had a few seconds to decide if he wanted to go through with this or not. He'd gone to the trouble of getting this thing, so he might as well see it through, even if Max hated that he'd gone back to get it.

Sam knocked on the door, and a few seconds later Max answered it. She looked confused for a second, until Sam motioned over to him. Max looked at him and instantly smiled. She quickly ran towards him, her smile only growing the closer she got.

"I…um…hi Max…um," Alec stuttered, suddenly tongue tied. "I…I thought you'd…um…" He ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alec," Max said quietly, her face glowing.

"Please don't be mad, but I wanted to get you something and this was the only thing I could think of that you might like and I know it was stupid to go, but I took backup with me and I'm completely fine. I just thought you'd want this since you didn't have time to get it or take it with you when we all had to scatter and whatever. And you rode this thing all the time so I thought you might miss it, but you might not, I don't know. If you hate it, I'll get you something else, I just wanted to do something nice for you and I thought this would be good," Alec said as fast as he could to just get it over with.

"Oh Alec," Max said once he stopped. She threw her arms around his neck and his eyes widened in surprise. This was the second time today he'd been hugged when he'd been expecting something else. "I love it! Thank you so much!"

Alec hugged Max back, but he couldn't help but ask, "So you're not mad?"

Max huffed a laugh and said, "Well, it was extremely stupid to go back there, but I did miss my bike." She pecked him on the cheek and said sincerely, "It was really sweet of you to get me something."

Alec felt his cheeks heat with embarrassment, but he gave Max a shy smile. Max smiled back at him, and then turned to look at her motorcycle. She ran her hand over the seat before she threw her leg over the side and got on and started it.

"Wanna go for a ride?" Max asked him over her shoulder.

Alec's smile grew and he quickly climbed on behind her.

"Better hold on," Max said with a smirk. Alec chuckled and wrapped his arms around Max's waist. He waved at Sam right before Max took off.

* * *

Dean pulled into the fourth abandoned house and killed the engine. He and Bobby both just sat there for a moment while Rocky and Lucky waited in the backseat.

"I don't think we should split up for this one," Bobby said.

"You've got that weird feeling too?" Dean asked, looking over at the older hunter.

"Yeah, I've got it," Bobby muttered.

Dean nodded once, and then turned around to face Rocky and Lucky. "Alright, we think this is the house…"

"Excellent," Rocky said with a smile.

Dean took a deep breath and tried to agree. He had to make sure this hunt went ok; he was responsible for five new hunters and he didn't want anything to happen to them.

"C'mon, let's get this show on the road," Bobby said, getting out of the car.

Dean nodded and followed Bobby's lead and got out. It was time to hunt.

* * *

 _Well I really tried to get to the hunt in this chapter, but it'll have to wait until next time. Hope you guys like it!_

 _More soon..._


	12. Chapter 12

_Head's up, this chapter has violence._

* * *

Dean motioned for Rocky to stay back. Dean knew Rocky was eager to hunt, but he needed to be the one to go first. If something was going to go wrong, it needed to happen to him, not his new recruits. He couldn't remember being this nervous when they had taken Alec on his hunt, but then it was him and Sam with only one new hunter.

He liked hunting with Bobby, but he and Sam were a team. They knew what the other was going to do before they did it. He felt a little lost without Sam there. He should've just caved in and let Sam come with him. But he'd been worried about Alec, and the only person he could really trust with Alec's wellbeing besides himself, was Sam.

Alec was a handful on the best days, but when he was feeling ornery he was almost impossible. It didn't help that he'd been locked up for almost his entire life. He'd gotten a taste of freedom, and now…well it was just good to keep the kid busy, or at the very least within sight. He knew Alec could take care of himself, but he felt very protective over his youngest brother. Alec had been through enough already; Dean didn't want him to suffer more.

He shook his head; he couldn't think about his brothers right now. He needed to focus on the hunt and keep his new hunters safe. If he could get them through this hunt then he could get back to his brothers. He looked to the house where the vampires were hopefully hiding out.

The house was an old farm house with a rickety barn a ways behind it. They would have to search the house first, and then make their way to the barn. The siding was falling off in some places and the front door was already opened a crack.

Dean nudged the door open further and slipped inside with his machete ready. It was dark in the house; boards were nailed over the windows and all of the lights were out. Dean walked with silent steps further inside. There was no sign of any vamps, but the hair on the back of his neck was standing with the impending danger.

Rocky and Lucky came up beside him, one on each side, and scanned the room. Dean shook his head; they better not be trying to protect him. He was the one with experience here, not them. But they refused to move from his side.

"Did Alec put you up to this?" Dean breathed out, hardly making a sound.

"We're just trying to learn as much as we can," Rocky replied with a small smirk.

Dean rolled his eyes, but started walking again. The house was eerily quiet except for the creepy groaning sounds that old houses tended to make. The wind was blowing slightly outside, causing the house to shift and the broken siding to flap against the house.

Dean walked into the side room, a floorboard creaking under his weight. He cringed and froze, but nothing happened. He scanned the room where he stood, but it was empty just like the last one. There was an ancient love seat on one side of the room with a bookshelf full of books next to it. Those were the only things in the room, which was weird because it was pretty big for only two things being in there. Bobby, Gem, Leo, and Penny walked up to stand beside Dean, Rocky, and Lucky, all of them looking around for any sign of trouble.

"Somethin' doesn't feel right," Bobby muttered.

"This house is beyond creepy," Penny whispered.

"Not as creepy as Manticore's basement," Leo whispered back.

Dean crept around the edge of the room looking for any signs that the vampires actually were here. There was a layer of dust covering everything in the room and the loveseat looked like it hadn't been sat in in years.

His team spread out in the room to look around for themselves, but he didn't know if there was anything to find.

"Dean," Rocky called out softly to get his attention.

Dean turned to see Rocky crouched down, looking at something on the floor. Dean and Bobby both moved to crouch down beside Rocky to see what he'd found. Rocky pointed to something small and Dean reached out and picked it up so Bobby could see it too.

"It's a fang," Dean said, shooting a look over at Bobby so he could confirm it.

Bobby nodded and took the fang from Dean, "Yeah, I'd say we're in the right house."

"Basement?" Dean asked, trying to figure out where these things were.

"That seems like the most likely spot for 'em," Bobby replied.

"Alright, well, let's get to it," Dean said, standing up again. Bobby and Rocky stood too and Dean looked around for the rest of his team. Leo was keeping watch at the far door and Penny was keeping watch at the door that they had come through. Dean looked for Lucky and Gem, but they weren't in the room anymore. "Where'd they go?" Dean asked, looking between Leo and Penny.

Leo shrugged at him, "They didn't go this way…"

Penny shook her head to signal that they hadn't gone her way either. There were only the two doors in the room, so there was nowhere else they could've gone.

"Shit…" Dean breathed out, looking around the room for any sign of Lucky and Gem, but they were gone.

* * *

"Bear, do you know where Alec went?" Sam asked, walking closer. Alec had gone off with Max on her motorcycle and he hadn't seen his little brother since. He wanted to double check that Alec was ok and he wanted to be with his brother as they waited for Dean to check in.

"He went to go give Dalton a break at Gem's place," Bear answered.

"Oh, ok…" Sam said, unsure about how he could ask where Gem's house was.

Bear took pity on him though and said, "Go down this street for two blocks then take a right. Her house is the first one on the left."

"Thanks Bear," Sam said with a smile before he took off down the street. It didn't take him long to find Gem's house after that, but then he wasn't sure if he should knock or just walk in. If it was just Alec then he could really do whatever he wanted, but he wasn't sure if it was just Alec or not.

Sam decided to knock just in case and he waited for someone to answer. After a few minutes and still no answer, Sam tried again, but had the same result. He tried the doorknob and found that it was unlocked, so he opened it a crack.

"Alec, it's me," Sam called out just to give Alec a head's up. There was no answer, but the light in the living room was on, so someone had to be home.

Sam walked further into the house and scanned the room. A small smile formed when he finally spotted his little brother. Alec was sitting in a rocking chair holding a baby, and both were fast asleep. The baby looked about a year old, and Sam had no idea where she had come from, but she was really cute with her curly hair pulled up with a bow wrapped around it. Her tiny hand was holding onto Alec's shirt and her little chubby cheeks were squished against his chest and her mouth was open, drool starting to pool on his shirt.

Toys littered the floor and there was a little bouncy chair in the corner. A sippy cup was held in Alec's limp hand, but it looked empty so Sam navigated the various toys and grabbed the cup out of Alec's hand. He put the cup on the counter, and then decided to clean up a little more. He put the toys in a box where he thought they belonged and he washed the dishes that were in the sink.

He guessed that the baby belonged to Gem since this was her house and everything, but he hadn't known that Gem had a baby. And he really didn't know that Alec knew how to take care of a baby. There was no one else in the house, so it was obvious that Alec was taking care of the little girl.

Alec suddenly took in a sharp breath and his eyes flew open, but he didn't move or jostle the baby at all. Sam looked over in concern, and Alec closed his eyes and relaxed again when he saw him.

"What're you doing, Sammy?" Alec mumbled sleepily.

"I was looking for you," Sam said softly. "What're you doin' taking care of a baby?"

"Babies can't take care of themselves," Alec said like it was obvious.

Sam chuckled and walked back over to Alec and the baby. He sat down on the sofa that was next to the rocking chair and said, "No kidding. What are _you_ doing taking care of a baby?"

Alec opened his eyes again and smirked, "You're surprised that I know how, aren't you?"

"I mean…" Sam ran his hand through his hair, "the thought had occurred to me…"

"Babies are easy," Alec replied. "They eat, sleep, and poop. It's not hard to make 'em laugh and when they cry, there's only so many things that can be wrong."

"How'd you end up being the one taking care of her?"

"Since Gem's on the hunt, me and Dalton agreed to take care of her."

"Where's Dalton?" Sam asked, looking around the room.

"He wanted a ride on Max's motorcycle," Alec said with a smile. "I told him he needed a break anyway and to get a move on."

"Who is this, by the way?" Sam asked.

"Eve," Alec said, looking down at Eve with a small smile. "She's Gem's daughter."

"I didn't know Gem had a daughter," Sam whispered.

Alec nodded, "Yeah, she was about to pop when I met her." Alec shifted Eve a little and chuckled, "I can't believe they both made it."

"What happened?" Sam asked to try and get Alec to open up to him. Dean always managed to get Alec to open up, but Sam usually didn't have as much luck.

"I used to work at this bike messenger place with Max. I was about to go out on a run when Joshua and Mole show up out in the open with Dalton and a very pregnant Gem. Joshua told me that Max told him to come there and find me. The cops were already after them since they were out in the open, but I tried to get them out of there without causing a scene…"

"I'm guessing that didn't work out how you wanted," Sam said when Alec trailed off.

Alec huffed and shook his head, "The cops blocked off our way out and Mole decided the best way out of there was to take me hostage and Josh took Gem hostage. That got the cops to back off a little bit, only because they didn't know me and Gem were transgenics. We went through Jam Pony to try and get to the other exit before the cops, but they were already there and started shooting at us so we went back inside and locked all the doors."

"Which meant you guys were surrounded," Sam guessed.

"Yup," Alec said, popping the p. "It was a mess though…" Alec muttered after a moment, "Normal wanted to shoot Mole, so I took his gun, and then everyone knew I was a transgenic. Max hijacked one of the sector cops' hover drones and crashed through the window, Dalton was trying to fix up my shoulder, Gem went into labor, and then White decided that was the best time to make a play at us and put snipers on the roof. We tried to make a deal with the cops, but then Cece got shot…"

Alec's eyes were distant as he relived what had happened. He was just listing what had happened instead of going into much detail. Sam wasn't even sure his little brother knew where he was right now. But instead of snapping Alec out of it, he waited.

Alec shook himself out of it and said, "We went back inside after that and just waited. I kept watch with Dalton for a long time…But then I can't remember if Max heard something or if she just thought something didn't feel right, but she got us all upstairs. Good thing too, 'cause White, and these like…warriors came in to take us down, but we were all hiding. OC was trying to keep Gem quiet while Normal was trying to deliver her baby. We didn't have hardly any ammo left so we had to try and go for the surprise attack."

Alec stopped and frowned suddenly and Sam asked gently, "What is it?"

"I can't remember where Dalton was," Alec said, slightly puzzled. "I remember Logan and Max were on either side of me and Joshua and Mole were there too. And I knew where OC, Normal, Sketchy, and Gem were, but I can't remember Dalton being there. I know he was, but I guess he was just with Gem and I forgot…"

"Well, they attacked you guys, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Alec said slowly, wondering where Sam was going with this.

"I'm guessing you were a little busy at the time, so it makes sense that you don't remember," Sam explained.

Alec didn't look convinced and muttered, "I'm gettin' rusty…"

They were quiet for a moment, and then Sam prodded to get Alec talking again, "What happened with the fight? How'd you guys get out of there?"

Alec gave him a small smile and continued, "We dropped down from the ceiling and landed on top of them, but then this one chick got the upperhand on me. Man, she kicked my ass…" Alec suddenly gave Sam a sharp look and defended himself before Sam even had a chance to say anything, "In my defense I was shot and tired. I know it's not an excuse, but I was definitely off my game."

Sam chuckled, "Alec, I'm not saying anything."

Alec looked at him a little longer as if trying to make sure that Sam was telling the truth, and then nodded his ok. "Anyway, Gem had her baby and we took down White and his people and tied them up, but we still needed a way around the cops."

"How'd you guys do it?" Sam asked.

"Me, Logan, Sketch, and OC took the swat clothes that White's people were wearing and escorted out Max, Josh, Mole, Gem and her baby, and Dalton into these trucks and just drove off. The cops figured it out before we got too far, but we made it back to TC. We made a stand and the cops went back behind the fence. We thought that they'd given up, but they were really just backing off and regrouping to try and catch us off guard. It wasn't too long after we all decided to stick together that the cops came in, and then I think it was about two days later, you guys showed up."

Sam looked up in surprise at hearing that, "All of this happened right before we hit you with our car?"

"Yup," Alec said with a smile. "You guys really saved my ass."

Sam shook his head in amusement, "You came out of nowhere when you jumped that fence…Makes more sense now though…" Alec frowned and cocked his head to the side, asking him what he meant. "You were pretty beat up when we found you."

"Hey, I still managed to steal your gun," Alec said with a smirk.

Sam halfway stood and messed up Alec's hair, "Yeah, I still can't believe you did that."

Alec chuckled, but then sobered slightly and asked, "You know somethin'?"

"What?" Sam asked, sitting back down again.

"I was scared out of my mind being around you guys," Alec confessed.

"Really?"

Alec nodded, "You guys wanted to help, but all of my training told me to bolt. Get out of there as fast as I could and don't trust anyone. I didn't know why you guys were helping me or who you guys were, and then after you asked me to stay I just kept waiting for the catch."

It dawned on Sam suddenly that Alec was still waiting for the catch. "You're still waiting for it…" Sam whispered without realizing he'd said it out loud.

Alec looked up, surprised, "What?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that," Sam quickly said. Alec kept looking at him, and Sam wasn't sure, but it almost felt like he wanted him to keep going, to say what he was thinking. "You're still waiting for the catch. That's why you try to keep your distance, why you don't realize that we worry about you."

Alec's eyes were slightly panicked as he breathed out, "Sam…"

Sam wanted to stop, but he couldn't; everything was making sense now. "That's why you don't want to talk about Manticore and what you had to do there. You're afraid you're going to scare us off…"

"Sam, I'm sorry," Alec said, almost desperately. "I'm trying, but good things don't happen to me and if I tell you what all I've done…you guys won't want me around anymore…"

Sam reached over and put his hand on Alec's shoulder to try and comfort him. "Alec, it's ok, we're not gonna judge you for what you had to do. Me and Dean…we've both done things that we regret."

"You guys didn't kill people for a living," Alec said with his eyes down.

"But I've done other things," Sam said. "Dean was sick and I took him to the faith healer and another man died for Dean. I couldn't really bring myself to care that another man was dead. I only felt guilty because Dean thought it was his fault. And when I found out my dad sold his soul to save Dean, I was just grateful. I was grateful that my dad died to save Dean."

Alec still didn't look convinced and Sam wasn't sure how to get him to understand that he wasn't a bad person.

"Alec, I swear, you could tell me everything you've ever done and I wouldn't think of you any differently. I know you, and I know you're not a bad kid. And you're my little brother, which means I'm with you no matter what," Sam said. "I don't care what you've done. If you want to tell me that's fine, and if you're not ready to talk about it yet, that's fine too. I'm stickin' around for the long haul no matter what."

Alec smiled a little and nodded. Sam still wasn't sure if Alec believed him or not, but Sam would keep telling him until he got it through his thick head.

Eve suddenly made some waking noises drawing Alec's attention. He stood up with her in his arms and walked over to the kitchen where Sam had put the sippy cup. He filled it up with juice, and then walked back into the living room and sat down in the rocking chair again.

"Thanks Sam," Alec said quietly.

Sam gave his little brother a smile, "Anytime Alec." They were quiet for a moment, and then Sam asked to try and change the subject, "How'd you learn how to take care of babies anyway?"

Alec huffed out a laugh and said, "That's a long story for another time."

Sam laughed and nodded his ok. He'd give Alec a break for now; he was really just happy that Alec had opened up to him in the first place. He would just have to remember to ask Alec about it another time.

* * *

"Shit," Dean breathed out, looking for any sign of where Lucky and Gem could have gone. He had to find them; he was responsible for them and he couldn't let anything happen to them.

"No one saw where they went?" Bobby asked the rest of the group.

"They were in the room," Penny said. "There's nowhere they could've gone without us seeing them."

"That's it!" Dean said, turning to look for a trap door or a secret area that he'd missed before. Lucky and Gem couldn't have gotten by Leo or Penny without them seeing, so there had to be something in the room. "Look around for anything that could be a secret passage or something."

Rocky, Leo, and Penny spread out in the room and started to look, but Bobby frowned and walked closer to him. "Dean, this isn't really the kind of place that would have that kind of thing…"

"They've gotta be around here somewhere Bobby," Dean said, walking past the older hunter and scanning the walls for anything unusual. Bobby huffed, but turned and started to look.

They searched the entire room, but the only things in there were the bookshelf and the loveseat.

"There's nothin' here Boss," Rocky said after a while.

"There's gotta be somethin'…" Dean muttered to himself. He walked over to the bookshelf and the loveseat since those were the only options left. He moved the loveseat to the side and Rocky came over to help him move it the rest of the way. There was nothing behind or under the loveseat, so Dean moved on to the bookshelf.

The shelves were all covered with dust, which meant there wasn't some secret book that moved the whole thing like in the movies.

"C'mon, let's move it just to make sure," Rocky said, walking around to the other side of the book case.

"Alright, on three," Dean said, getting ready on his side while Rocky did the same on the other. "One, two, three." He and Rocky both lifted and moved the bookcase away from the wall.

"Well I'll be damned," Bobby said once the bookcase was moved.

Dean looked back to the wall and saw a hole big enough to crawl through down at the bottom. There was a handle on the bottom on the bookcase so it could be pulled back to the wall once someone was inside the tunnel. "We need to split up. I'll take Rocky down the creepy tunnel and Bobby, you take Leo and Penny down to the basement to get 'em from both sides."

"What if they aren't in the basement," Bobby argued. "That tunnel could lead anywhere…"

"We can't all go down the tunnel. They'll hear us comin' and if we all get caught, then who's gonna rescue us?" Dean asked with a small smirk. Bobby still looked like he wanted to argue so Dean said, "Check the basement first, and if they aren't there then head to the barn. Those are the only places they could be."

"I still think it's stupid, but alright…" Bobby finally caved in.

Bobby patted his shoulder and he nodded once before he turned back to the tunnel. Rocky came up beside him after a moment and glanced over at him.

"You ready?" Dean asked.

"I'm with you the whole way," Rocky said.

Dean took a deep breath, put his machete in his belt, and then crouched down to start crawling through the tunnel and Rocky followed after him. The tunnel was made of dirt; the sides and top were rough like they had just been carved out, but the bottom was smooth from being travelled. It was a very small space and it was getting darker the further they got from the room. Dean stopped and got out his flashlight so they could see what was ahead before it went pitch black.

"There's drag marks," Dean whispered.

"How far d'you think this tunnel goes?" Rocky asked softly.

"Don't know," Dean replied, trying to see further ahead, but unable to see much. He was afraid to shine the light down the tunnel just in case they were close to the end. "How far out can you see?" Dean asked knowing that Rocky's eyesight was way better than his.

"There's nothin' for a long time," Rocky said. "I'll hit your foot or something when I see something."

"Alright," Dean said, finding that to be their best option. Dean put his flashlight away again, trusting Rocky to stop him when they were close.

"Any chance you know Morse Code?" Rocky asked hopefully.

Dean smiled thinking of the time when he and Alec had used Morse Code to hunt the Wendigo not too long ago. "Yeah, I know Morse Code," Dean answered.

Rocky chuckled, "Good, that'll help."

They crawled for a long time and Dean decided the vamps were probably in the barn instead of the basement. He just wished they could get there faster, before anything could happen to Lucky or Gem. He'd never forgive himself if he was too late to save them.

Rocky hit his foot after another few minutes and he stopped. Rocky reached up and tapped on his leg, 'Getting close.'

Dean took his word for it and reached back to hit Rocky's arm that he'd understood. They slowed down after that, and a little while later it seemed like the tunnel was getting lighter. The edges of the hole to their exit started to become clear, which meant it was time to come up with a better plan than just winging it.

'What's the plan, Boss?' Rocky tapped against his leg.

Dean sent back hand signals since he knew Rocky could see them. He told Rocky to stay back and follow his lead. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do, but hopefully Rocky thought he had a plan. He wanted to at least appear to know what he was doing.

He scooted closer to the edge of the hole and tried to peek into the room outside. It turned out it was the barn that the tunnel was leading them to. Straw covered the floor and tools hung on the walls including shovels, hoes, hammers, etc. There was a door to what looked like a side room, or it could lead outside, Dean didn't really know. Near the wall were two rickety looking, wooden chairs; Gem was tied up on one chair half-conscious while Lucky was tied to the other completely unconscious and with blood running from a bite wound on his neck. There were six vamps that he counted, but there could be more in the side room.

Dean signaled to Rocky that they had two down and six, possibly more, threats in the room with no backup. There was enough light now that they were at the edge of the tunnel, so Dean could see the signals that Rocky sent back. 'Split up, you take right I take left or wait for backup'

Dean signaled to split up and take the two sides. He'd rather go in now and get Lucky and Gem out before he waited for Bobby, Leo, and Penny to get there. He maneuvered himself so he could get his machete out before he silently snuck out of the hole. He kept his eyes on the vamps as he moved, just to make sure they didn't hear him or Rocky moving. They were discussing something, but their voices were too quiet for him to make out what they were saying. Rocky could hear them, but they didn't have time to discuss it right now.

Dean walked around the wall on the right side while Rocky took the left. Dean moved swiftly but silently along the wall, closer to Lucky and Gem. Rocky slowed down opposite of him and waited for what Dean was going to do next. Dean wanted to get in front of Lucky and Gem before they attacked so they could protect them and to hopefully prevent any more hostage situations.

Gen suddenly started to stir before Dean could make a move and one of the vamps, a man with greasy black hair, turned to look at her. He walked forward with a smirk firmly planted on his face. He roughly grabbed her chin and sneered, "Well, well, well, look who's finally awake…"

The greasy vamp's voice made the other ones turn to look at what was going on. A woman with long blonde hair took a step in Gem's and Greasy's direction and smiled at them. "Great, the others should be here soon and you know they'll be hungry."

"I wonder if you taste as good as your friend," Greasy said to Gem. She glared back at him, which just made him laugh. "I don't know what's in his blood, but it's delicious."

"Hopefully she's the same," Blondie said with a predatory grin, ready to drain Gem on the spot.

Gem spit in Greasy's face and he recoiled in disgust. He drew back to hit her, but an older man with gray hair ran forward and caught his arm. "Don't damage the merchandise," Old Gray ordered menacingly. "The others won't appreciate it if you do."

Dean had been a second away from jumping from behind cover, but he forced himself to stay where he was and wait. He was hoping they would tell him how many more were in the nest before he attacked. They needed to get them all so there were no survivors who wanted to get revenge later.

Another vamp ran in suddenly through the side door drawing everyone's attention. He was a teenager by the looks of him, but he was still a monster. "We can't find them," he said in a rush to Old Gray.

"What?" Old Gray growled. "Lois and Tony were supposed to be watching them."

"They lost them…"

Old Gray sighed, and then motioned for two of the vamps on the other side of the room to go look for them. Dean didn't want them to get away so he decided now was the time to attack. Just before he could move though, Old Gray turned back to Gem, who Dean was surprised to see, was gone. Bits of rope dangled from the arms of the chair that she had been in.

"Where the hell did she go?!" Old Gray yelled. Greasy looked from the empty chair to Old Gray with shock. He was the closest one to the chair and he should've heard her break through the ropes, but he hadn't.

"Hey Dick!" Gem shouted. Greasy spun towards her only to fall back with a shovel to the face.

 _'That's my girl,'_ Dean thought with a small smile.

Without hesitation now, Dean jumped into view and Rocky followed his lead. Blondie was the one closest to him, and he swung his machete, cutting her head clean off before she could even turn around. Blood splattered him as he sliced through her neck, but he didn't care.

Rocky cut off the head of one of the other vamps and Dean glanced over to Gem just in time to see her slam her shovel down, severing Greasy's head from his spine with grim determination. They had three down and four to go in the room still, but one of the vamps, the teenager was cowering in the corner. Rocky and Gem moved to circle the other two, while Dean moved on to Old Gray.

"Hunters," Old Gray spat out in disgust.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Can we not do the whole 'you insult me, I insult you' thing. It gets really old after a while."

Old Gray scowled and opened his mouth to probably insult him again, but Dean moved before he could. He ran forward, but then had to dodge left when Old Gray made a grab for him. He summersaulted over a bale of hay, and then kicked out the old vampire's knee. Old Gray crumbled in surprise, and Dean was up and over him before he could even think to move. He swung down with his machete and cut off the vamp's head.

Dean was breathing a little harder after that, but he ignored that and looked to see how Rocky and Gem were doing. Rocky was already cleaning off his machete with his shirt and Gem was stalking towards the teenager with her shovel raised. The bodies of six vamps littered the floor with their head's laying near them. Dean was just about to let Gem dispose of the last vamp, but then he thought better of it.

"Gem, hold up," Dean called out. She glanced at him curiously, but she did stop. "We need to ask him a few questions. Rocky, bring him over."

Rocky started to move, but Dean didn't watch his progress. Instead, he turned towards Lucky who was still passed out in his chair. Dean pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it against Lucky's neck to stop the bleeding.

"Is he going to be ok?" Gem asked, walking to stand next to him again.

Dean checked Lucky's pulse; he thought it was too fast, but he was really just basing it off of what he knew about Alec. Lucky was still breathing though, so that was a good sign. "They didn't make him ingest any blood, did they?" Dean asked. If they did, then Lucky was in danger of becoming one of them, but it didn't look like they had.

"I don't think so," Gem said, slowly shaking her head. "We should've seen it coming," She chastised herself. She looked up at Dean with guilty eyes and said, "I'm so sorry we screwed up this hunt. I promise it will never happen again and we will understand if you remove us from your team or even have a punishment for us."

Dean's eyes widened, "Gem, in no way did you screw up." Gem and Rocky both looked up, surprised that they weren't in trouble. "Hunts never go as planned. They're messy and dangerous and you did amazing."

"We're not in trouble?" Gem asked slowly.

"Hell no you're not in trouble! You're a freakin' badass and I'll be damned if anyone takes you off my team," Dean said. Gem looked shocked by what he'd said, but she just slowly nodded in response. "Alright," Dean said after a moment, and then he nodded his head for Gem to come over there. "Can you keep this against his neck? I gotta find out how many more of 'em there are."

Gem nodded again and took his place. He made sure she was ok before he turned to Rocky and the teen vamp they had on the vacant chair.

"How many more vampires are in your nest?" Dean asked. The teen looked terrified; he was shaking and his eyes were glued to the dead vamps on the ground. "Hey, kid, how many vamps are in your nest?"

His eyes shifted to Dean, and then back to the bodies before he timidly stuttered, "I-I-I…um…"

Dean sighed and crouched down, "What's your name?"

"Conner," the teen breathed out.

"How old are you? When did you get turned?" Dean asked.

"15…and two week ago," Conner answered.

Dean nodded, "Alright, do you know how many others live here?" Conner just looked at him with panic and Dean tried to get him on the right track, "Lois and Tony, those are two of 'em right?" Conner nodded and Dean asked, "Is there anyone else besides them?"

"Drex and Walt," Conner finally said.

"And that's it?" Dean urged.

"Yes," Conner replied.

"Dean," Rocky said. Dean looked up at him and Rocky motioned for him to come to the side. Dean got up and followed Rocky a few feet away. "Are we gonna kill this kid?" Rocky whispered. He sounded like he didn't want to do it, but he would if he had to. He had the same look that Dean had seen on Alec; he would do whatever had to be done.

Dean's immediate response would've been yes, but then he thought back to Lenore and her peaceful vampire ways. They'd let her go because she wasn't evil and Sam had convinced him that they hunted evil and not all monsters were evil. A lot of people thought the transgenics were monsters, but he knew first hand that they weren't. He took a deep breath, and then said, "No, we're not gonna kill him. We're gonna give him a choice."

Rocky looked relieved and gave Dean a small smile.

"Not all monsters are evil," Dean said softly. "And our job is to only hunt evil…Sam told me that."

Rocky gave him a knowing look, but then asked to change the subject, "What about the other four? And what about Bobby, Leo, and Penny?"

Dean smiled and said, "I'm not too worried."

A second later the door to the barn opened and Bobby, Leo, and Penny walked in with blood splatters covering their clothes and dragging four headless bodies behind them. Penny was carrying a sack that was dripping blood, which Dean assumed was holding the heads.

"Looks like we missed the party," Bobby grumbled, letting go of the body he was dragging. "Would've got here sooner, but these four decided to jump us."

Leo dropped the other three dead vamps to the floor, but then growled and looked at Conner, "You missed one."

Dean shook his head, "We're not gonna kill him."

"What?" Leo asked, sharp eyes boring holes into Dean.

"He's a monster, but he's not evil," Rocky stated.

"He was turned two weeks ago and he's just a kid. And, there's another way for them to live where they don't kill humans," Dean explained. Bobby didn't even look convinced, but he didn't argue. "I'm gonna give him a choice, and then it's up to him, ok?"

Leo and Penny reluctantly nodded and Bobby stayed silent, which was good enough for him. He walked back to Conner who was watching them all with fear in his eyes.

Dean crouched down in front of him again and said, "You've got a few options here Conner…" Conner stared steadily back at him; his whole life was in Dean's hands right now and he knew it. "Vampires don't have to live off of humans. You can feed off of cows and animals and still survive without killing people. As long as you don't feed on humans, there's no reason for me to kill you. There's another nest that I know of that lives like this, so I know it can be done. You following so far?"

Conner nodded, his eyes searching Dean's face to see if he was telling the truth.

"You can try to find them and join 'em if you want, or you can go off on your own. Those are your options," Dean said.

"Or you can live with me," Rocky threw in before Conner could answer. Dean shot Rocky a look, silently asking him if he really wanted to do this. Rocky shrugged back and said with a smirk, "Two freaks and a vampire, sounds like the next blockbuster to me." Rocky frowned after a second though and muttered, "Bear is gonna kill me…"

Conner looked over at Rocky and Dean could see a tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"You'd have to watch his diet," Dean warned.

"Dean, he's just a kid," Rocky said. "He doesn't know anyone else and he's an outsider. Sounds a lot like me a few weeks ago…besides the kid part."

Dean chuckled and nodded, "I guess it's a good way to keep an eye on him too…As long as you're ok with it, then I guess it's fine." Dean turned back to Conner and said, "I guess you have three options now."

Conner looked between all of them, and then timidly asked, "Can I go with you?"

Dean looked at Rocky who nodded back to him, and then he looked at Conner with a small smile, "Yeah, you can come with us."

"Alright, now that we've got that solved, we've still got some work to do," Bobby said, his voice gruff. "Dean, you take this crew back with you to the Valley. Looks like Lucky needs to be looked over and you better clear the vampire livin' there with Max before you make it final."

"Ok," Dean said, agreeing that Lucky needed some medical attention and he had completely forgot about Max. But he knew she wouldn't be able to turn Conner away once she met him. He was just a scared kid who needed help, and she would definitely take up the challenge. "What're you, Leo, and Penny gonna do?"

"We're gonna torch the barn," Bobby said. Leo and Penny shared a wicked grin at the thought and Bobby chuckled. "We'll catch up to you once we're done."

"Alright Bobby," Dean said with a smile. Rocky picked Lucky up and Dean nodded for Gem and Conner to follow him. One hunt down, no casualties, and one new recruit. Just a normal day.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	13. Chapter 13

_Sorry it's been a long time! I don't know if anyone is reading this still, but last chapter Dean had gone on a hunt with his crew of transgenics and they had come back with a vampire. Hope you guys like it!_

* * *

"Dean…"

Dean frowned in his sleep, but didn't wake up. He turned a little to press his face further into his pillow.

He was exhausted; they had just gotten back from the hunt a couple of hours ago. He'd driven like a maniac so they could get Lucky back as fast as they could. They had controlled the bleeding back at the barn, but Dean wanted to make sure that he'd be ok.

He had wanted to go straight to bed once they got back, but everyone wanted to know how the hunt had gone and they had to introduce Conner. Sam and Alec had grabbed him once he was free from recapping what had happened. They wanted to make sure he was ok, and he would've done the same to them, but all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Dean…"

Someone poked his cheek, so he knew now this wasn't just part of a dream.

"What?" Dean grumbled, his voice muffled because of the pillow.

"Sorry, never mind, go back to sleep," Alec said quickly. Dean suddenly felt the bed shift signaling that Alec had gotten up.

"What is it Alec?" Dean asked, still refusing to actually get up.

"I can't sleep," Alec admitted. "I have too much energy." Dean wasn't sure where Alec was going with this. It wasn't new that Alec couldn't sleep, but usually he found something else to do. "And everyone else is either asleep or busy…" Alec continued.

Dean sighed and pushed himself up. Harper turned when he moved, but then went back to sleep. "Alright, what's up?"

"I didn't want to wake you up…but…" Alec ran his hand nervously through his hair, and then asked, "Will you spar with me?"

Dean's eyebrows rose in surprise, "You want me to spar with you?"

Alec nodded and tried to explain, "I feel rusty and this will help me clear my head. If you don't want to, I can just wait until Max is done in Command…"

"No, I'll spar with you," Dean said. He found his jeans on the floor and pulled them on before he went looking for his t-shirt. Alec was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as he waited; he wasn't kidding when he said he had too much energy. He was looking around the room, but his eyes never stayed on one thing for very long. "Where are we going?" Dean asked once he had his clothes on.

"Max's place?" Alec asked. "Or there might be somewhere near the gate that would work…Or maybe the Mess Hall?"

"Let's go to Max's place," Dean said before Alec could keep going.

"I just need to work some stuff out," Alec said as they left the house and walked down the road. "My mind's just spinning with a ton of crap and I can't focus on one thing. It just helps to…I don't know…stuff just seems clearer when I'm moving or doing something."

"Makes sense," Dean said even though he was pretty sure Alec wouldn't hear him. Alec was in a mood and Dean was just going to let him do what he had to. He understood feeling antsy and needing to do something; that's how he felt if he went too long without a hunt.

"Plus, even though I've been out of Manticore for two years, I'm still used to training every day and exercising and all that. I usually can just run this stuff out, but I've already ran ten miles and it didn't help," Alec continued. "And Max is busy getting things lined up for when she goes on the hunt with Sam in the morning. And Sam is busy with Dix and Logan looking up the hunt. Bear and Rocky are getting Conner settled in and Lucky's in the Med House. So, even though I know you're tired because you just got back from the hunt and everything, I just…"

"Alec, it's ok," Dean said. "I'm happy to do this."

Alec shot him a grateful smile before he led the way into Max's house. Dean chuckled when he walked in and saw that all of the furniture was already pushed against the wall. Alec kicked off his boots as he walked and tossed them to the wall. Dean followed his lead and tossed his boots next to Alec's.

Alec started pulling knives out of his pockets and putting them in a pile on one of the sofa cushions. Dean pulled his knife out of his pocket and his wallet and set it next to Alec's pile. He took off his ring, necklace, and bracelet and added them too. Alec was looking at his jewelry with curiosity, but he didn't say anything. Alec had asked last time they had sparred about his ring, but he hadn't given him a real answer at the time.

Alec looked away and slowly walked to the middle of the room. He stretched his arms as he walked and his eyes were closed. Dean watched him as he moved, mainly because he could and because Alec was letting loose, which was rare. He didn't have his happy-go-lucky façade on or his 'I'm always alright' act going.

Alec had only used that line on him once; Dean had called him out on it so Alec had always tried other things on him. Dean's own line, 'I'm fine', had become one of his favorites even though Dean knew Alec wasn't always fine when he said that. He'd have a faraway look in his eyes or he'd get really quiet for a few hours. Anyone who didn't spend all of their time together wouldn't notice, but he and Sam both knew.

Alec wasn't fine right now, that much Dean knew for sure, but he was surprised that Alec was around him right now. Usually when he wasn't fine he would go off by himself. Dean wanted to be there for his little brother, but sometimes it was better to give him his space and let him work it out. He wanted to help however he could; he knew Alec was going through things that he wouldn't be able to understand, he just wanted to be there for him.

"You ready?" Dean asked, breaking Alec out of his own head.

Alec opened his eyes and smiled, getting into a loose fighting stance. Dean nodded his ok and walked forward, mirroring Alec's stance. They faced off against each other for a moment before Alec struck. Dean was always amazed at how fast Alec was, but he blocked the punch, absorbing the impact with his forearm.

Alec followed up with another punch, but Dean dodged and caught his wrist. Alec spun around using his weight to throw Dean off balance and drag him closer, but he kneed Alec in the side on the way by. They faced off again, but Alec suddenly blurred forward to try to get the upper hand. Dean was ready for him though and blocked him.

Alec punched hard and fast, but the movement and the sting felt good to him. He knew it felt good to Alec too, otherwise they wouldn't be doing this right now.

They threw and blocked punches until both of them were sore and breathing hard. It was always fun to spar with Alec because he never knew what Alec was going to do. Sometimes they ended up wrestling on the floor and other times Alec would flip around like a gymnast to try and distract him. This time it was just clear cut punching, kicking, and blocking; nothing fancy or over the top, but enough to get their blood flowing and to work out any stiff muscles.

Dean suddenly took a hard hit to his side, making him double over. He held up his hand to signal that he needed to stop, and Alec instantly dropped his stance and ran over to him.

"Did I break your rib? I tried to pull back, but I kinda forgot you're not a transgenic," Alec said in a rush. "I'm sorry Dean."

"I'm alright," Dean said, waving Alec off. He stood up straight again and tried to reassure, "Just knocked the wind outta me." Alec didn't look convinced; guilt shone out of his too expressive eyes. "I'm serious Alec, I'm fine." Dean ruffled Alec's hair to prove that he was ok, and Alec smiled just a little. "What about you? Are you alright?" Dean asked, looking Alec over.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alec said with a shrug. He looked down, uncomfortable, and said, "Thanks for…thanks for that…it helped…" Alec waved his hand around the room and rubbed the back of his neck.

"No problem, Alec," Dean said with a small smile. He wanted Alec to know that he could come to him for anything no matter what. Alec smiled back at him and Dean chuckled. "C'mon, let's go find a drink or something."

"I thought I wasn't old enough for that kind of thing," Alec said innocently.

"Shut up," Dean said, rolling his eyes and hooking his arm around Alec's neck. Alec laughed and pushed Dean off of him. "Maybe they have some warm milk or something for your delicate stomach," Dean teased as they walked out of Max's house.

Alec threw his head back and laughed again. "I'm not the delicate one here," Alec said. "One touch and you act like you're dying."

"Oh, you're in for it now, kid," Dean said, shaking his head.

"What're you gonna do?" Alec asked with a challenge.

"You better just be glad that you're already adopted into this family otherwise you'd have some real problems," Dean threatened. He tried to hide his smile, but he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Oh I'm sure," Alec scoffed. "You're a big softy. There's no way you could've let this sweet, innocent, injured clone wander around on his own. One look at me and you were already begging Sam to keep me."

"Innocent my ass," Dean grumbled. He couldn't really argue that it didn't take him long to decide that Alec should stay with them. He knew almost immediately that he wanted Alec to stick with them; he knew even before they had found Alec, but he didn't mention any of that.

Alec chuckled, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I might've gotten that part wrong, but you're still a softy."

"No I'm not," Dean argued. "I'm a hunter. I kill monsters for a living. I'm not a softy."

Alec smirked, "Whatever you say."

Dean scowled, but he didn't argue anymore since they had made it to Rocky's bar. The lights were all off since it was well past 3 in the morning, but the doors were unlocked so they just let themselves in. Alec sat on a stool at the bar, while he went around to the mini fridge and snagged a couple of beers. He slid one over to Alec, and then sat next to his little brother.

"That always feels good," Alec said after a moment.

"Yeah," Dean agreed.

"We used to train in the yard, rain or shine. They didn't want us to get rusty, since, y'know, we're kinda expensive," Alec said with a smirk. Dean chuckled and messed up Alec's hair. Alec laughed suddenly and said, "This one time it was raining so hard the guards could hardly see us. They were really only there for show anyway since the only ones stupid enough to escape was Max's unit. But I convinced some of the others that we should mess with them since they couldn't see us."

"What'd you do?" Dean asked curiously.

"We tied their shoelaces together," Alec said with a wicked grin. Dean let out a surprised laugh, not expecting that answer. "Once it was time to go in they all tripped and we stood there staring straight ahead just like we were supposed to. They were so mad." Alec laughed and shook his head.

Dean laughed too; it was something he could definitely see Alec doing even though it was a dangerous move.

"It wasn't always bad there," Alec said, taking a drink from his beer. "There's some good times mixed in with the bad." Dean nodded in agreement; his childhood wasn't all that bad in comparison to Alec's, but there were still good times and bad.

Dean yawned suddenly, unable to keep it in. He was even more exhausted now than he had been earlier.

"You can go back to bed," Alec said with amusement. "You don't have to stay up with me."

Dean finished off his beer, and then gave Alec a small smile and ruffled his hair as he got up. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Alec replied. He reached out and patted his arm as he walked by, and then turned back to his beer.

Dean shot a look back at Alec before he left and wished he wasn't so tired. Alec looked lonely sitting there by himself, but he needed a few hours of sleep to keep functioning. Alec would be ok for a little while or he could go to Command to find someone. There were always people in Command, or he could stay here if he wanted to be alone.

"Sleep tight," Alec teased just as he was almost out of the door. He just rolled his eyes and started back to his house.

* * *

"So, this can be your room," Rocky said, showing Conner the empty room. Conner looked around, but there wasn't much to see; it was just four walls with nothing in it. "For now you can sleep on the couch. I'll put out that we need some furniture and some more clothes for ya. I think Link's about your size so maybe he'll give up some clothes until we can get you some."

"Thanks," Conner said with his eyes down.

"C'mon, I'll show you the rest of the house," Rocky said after a moment. He led Conner back through the house; it was a small place, but he didn't know what else to do. Conner followed after him without a word.

Rocky hoped the kid would loosen up a little bit after a while, but for now he understood. It was hard to come into a new place without knowing anyone and be able to relax. It didn't help that Bear was standing in the living room glaring at them.

"Ignore Bear, she's just mad 'cause she didn't realize she was getting another roommate today," Rocky muttered as they walked by.

Bear silently followed them as Rocky showed the rest of the house. Conner didn't say anything, but he glanced back nervously every so often to keep an eye on Bear.

"Ok," Rocky said after they had seen the entire house. He clapped his hands together and thought about what they could do now. He was at a loss on how to take care of this kid, and he definitely didn't know how to take care of a vampire. He was in over his head, that much he knew for sure. "Um…I guess you can hit the hay if you want to…or I've gotta go check on my bar if you wanna go with me…"

"Sure," Conner replied.

"Alright, we'll be back later," Rocky said to Bear. She just glowered back at him, but he ignored her and left with Conner.

They walked to his bar in silence; he didn't know what to say and Conner just didn't want to talk. Rocky was surprised to see that there was a light on in the bar. He opened the door to find Alec sitting by himself with a beer in front of him.

"Hey man, what're you doin'?" Rocky asked as he and Conner walked in.

Alec turned on the stool and looked at them in surprise. "Hey! Yeah, um, I can go," Alec said quickly, starting to move to grab his beer and the bottle next to him. "I didn't think you'd be around tonight and it was unlocked so I just let myself in."

"No it's cool," Rocky said, stopping Alec in his tracks. "I'm just showing Conner around."

"Hey Conner, I'm Alec. I think we met earlier, but it was kinda crazy…"

"You look like Dean," Conner said softly.

Alec huffed out a laugh and said, "Yeah, I'm kind of his clone."

Conner's eyes widened, but he quickly shook off his shock and said, "Sorry, you'd think being a vampire it'd be easy to just go with things like clones and transgenics and all that, but-"

"But it's a lot to get used to," Alec finished. "I get it…sort of…actually, no, I don't really get it, but I see a lot of people going through that kind of thing so it makes sense." Alec took a quick drink, and then continued when Conner didn't say anything. "I mean, we've got transgenics not believing in ghosts and monsters, and now a vampire is having a hard time with transgenics. It's crazy. I don't have a problem with either. Mainly because I am a transgenic and have been my whole life, but it seemed pretty believable that monsters were real too."

Conner looked away from Alec and over to him, and he couldn't help his chuckle. "Alec likes to talk," Rocky said for an explanation.

Alec shrugged back, "Can't help it." He drained the last of his beer and stood up. "I'll catch you guys later."

"See ya, man," Rocky said with a nod as Alec tossed the bottles and walked out with a small wave.

Conner looked around the room after Alec left and sat down. He still looked uncertain about being with them, but maybe he could do something to help ease the kid's nerves.

"You hungry?" Rocky asked, causing Conner's eyes to snap to him. Conner didn't answer him though, which probably meant that he was hungry. "C'mon, we can get a car from the garage and head to the woods or something to find you something to eat."

Conner gave him a small smile and nodded his agreement. Rocky smiled too and walked around the bar to meet up with Conner again. He clapped Conner on the shoulder and together they walked out of the bar.

* * *

Ellen looked up as the front door suddenly slammed shut. She glanced over at Jo and saw her daughter smirk as she tossed the carrots into the soup they were making. Rufus stomped into the kitchen after a moment, closely followed by Garth.

"Freakin' Winchester," Rufus grumbled.

Ellen rolled her eyes; Rufus was always complaining about something. Ever since they were moved from the Winchester's house he'd complained about the house being too small, Sketchy being annoying, Mole complaining, Bobby making him come out of retirement, Garth, the list went on and on. If he wasn't complaining then he was eating, drinking, or sleeping.

"Which one?" Jo asked, the amusement clear in her voice. Rufus glared at her and stalked over to the little table in the corner and sat down in one of the rickety chairs.

"Shouldn't be too hard to guess," Ellen said knowingly.

Jo snorted out a laugh and said, "We can rule Alec out."

Ellen nodded her agreement, "The boy can do no wrong."

"That just leaves Sam or Dean," Jo said. "Could be Sam. He had to go all over Seattle looking for Alec with him. Maybe he said something to upset him."

"That sounds more like Dean to me," Ellen replied.

"What'd he do?" Jo asked Garth.

"Oh, Dean brought a vampire back from the hunt to live here," Garth casually replied.

"Of course he did," Ellen said, shaking her head.

"Freakin' Winchester," Rufus said again. "Bringin' a vampire here…" Garth opened his mouth to say something, but Rufus cut him off and threateningly pointed at him, "Don't you start again, Toothpick. I don't care what reasons he had to bring it back here. It's just stupid is what it is."

Ellen smiled a little thinking about the Winchesters. They were a good group of boys even though she didn't always agree with them. She wanted to look out for them if she could, but she knew those boys looked out for each other more than she ever could.

"Anyway," Garth drew out, "Which one of us should go with Sam on his hunt?"

Rufus grumbled and rolled his eyes, "Freakin' Papa Bear Bobby Singer thinks they need back up. It's not like they're fully grown hunters with trained soldiers backin' 'em up…"

"Well, that rules Rufus out," Ellen muttered. "We should stick him with Alec since he's the only one that can stand bein' around him."

"What're they hunting?" Jo asked Garth.

"A shapeshifter I think," Garth said with a shrug.

"Oooo," Rufus said, his eyes lighting up.

"I'll take it," Ellen said quickly before Rufus could. She didn't think that was a good mix and she didn't want Jo mixed up with a shapeshifter.

Rufus rolled his eyes, but then nodded his agreement

* * *

"So you've dealt with one of these before?" Logan asked him curiously.

Sam nodded, "More than once actually. These things suck…" The one who had taken Dean's shape had been worse than the one at the bank. The bank shifter had caused them a lot of problems in the real world, with the law and everything, but it hadn't been personal. Their first shapeshifter had taken their identities and gotten in their heads.

"They can take the form of any person?" Logan asked, leaning back in his chair to focus on him instead of the computer.

"Yup," Sam said, scanning the computer screen for anything he could have missed.

"Incredible," Logan breathed out. "They shed their skin and transform into someone else and download their thoughts and memories…It's almost seamless."

"Yeah, except for the skin they leave behind and their victims," Sam said. "Now that we know what they are, they're easier to identify, but not easier to find."

Logan leaned forward again and pulled up a map of the shifter's hunting ground. This one was targeting bowling alleys for some reason. Sam was pretty sure shapeshifters just did these things because they liked messing with people. There was really no reason to rob a bowling alley, but this one was. They only knew it was a shapeshifter because the cops had found the same gunk at each one and each of their suspects turned up dead a few days later.

"If I had to guess, I'd say they were going to hit Strikers next," Logan said. "It's in the same area and I really don't see another connection besides that between all the others."

"I don't see anything else either…" Sam muttered. He could usually see more of a pattern, but this time their only lead was the bowling alley.

"Who all's on your team?" Logan asked, sitting back in his chair again.

"Joshua, Tack, Panda, Stella, and Max. And then I guess whoever of the others gets to go. I don't know if they've decided yet," Sam said.

"Hey Sam," someone suddenly called out from behind him. Sam turned in surprise and saw Tera standing there with a mischievous smile.

Sam's own smile grew as he walked towards her. "Where's Harper? I thought she was asleep with Dean…"

"She woke up and Dean was gone so we decided to walk around. But I got her talking to Dix about computers," Tera replied. "She should be a while, especially since she doesn't know anything about computers."

Sam glanced back at Logan and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Logan raised his eyebrows, but he didn't say anything in reply. Sam looked back to Tera, and then followed her to the backdoor.

* * *

Alec wandered aimlessly after he left Rocky's bar. Sparring with Dean had helped clear his head a little, but not enough for him to actually sleep. Sometimes he just couldn't block out the things that he had done. He wasn't a good person and pretending to be otherwise took a lot out of him. But his head had been swirling with everything he'd ever done, good and bad. Mostly bad though.

He didn't know what he wanted. He wanted to sleep, but at the same time he didn't want to sleep. If he fell asleep now, he'd be plagued by nightmares. If he managed to fall asleep then it would be a waste of time; he'd be awake again in a few hours anyway.

He wanted to be around people, but at the same time he wanted to be alone. If he found someone to hang out with then they'd want to talk and he didn't feel like talking. That's why he left Rocky's bar. He knew Rocky would want to talk and would expect him to talk, but he didn't want to. But he felt alone. He wanted company, but he didn't know whose company he wanted.

He felt energized and drained at the same time. He'd already run ten miles, sparred with Dean, and had only taken a short nap in the last 24 hours, but he still felt energy coursing through his veins. But at the same time he felt like he didn't have the energy to even take the next step. His head was hurting from all of the memories, but he didn't have any way to shut them down.

He didn't know what to do and he didn't know what he wanted. He was ok when he was around his brothers, but he was alone now. Alone with just his thoughts, and his thoughts were not a good place to be. This happened quite a bit, but it was getting harder to shut down. If he could shut them down then he wouldn't listen to them. But he couldn't shut them down this time.

He was defective. He had a family, but he still wasn't able to let himself be happy. He could be happy for a while, but the rest of the time it was just an act. He wanted to tell his brothers everything, but he couldn't. He wanted to stay with them, but as soon as they found out who he really was, it would be all over. He felt the weight of his deception every day and it just got worse the longer he kept it from them.

He had to tell them. That would be the only way he could free himself. He needed to come clean and let them decide if they really wanted him to stay with them. They needed to know the real him; the person they thought they knew wasn't real. He was pretending so he wasn't alone. But he was alone. The two people he cared about most didn't even know him, and once they did know him, he would lose them.

He needed to suck it up and come clean. He was a soldier. He should have told them the truth from the beginning. He didn't deserve their kindness.

Alec took a deep breath and headed for Command. He would find Sam first, and then go get Dean. He would have to wake Dean up again, but he needed to do this. His guilt was eating him alive.

He made his way to Command and slowly went inside. He was dragging his feet a little, still afraid to actually go through with this. He was a coward; he wasn't a soldier.

"Hey, you ok?"

Alec actually jumped and looked at Logan. "Um, yeah…I'm alright," Alec replied after a minute.

"You sure?" Logan actually looked concerned for him. Alec didn't answer him; he wasn't alright and he couldn't put on his game face right now. "Hey, um, I know this probably isn't a great time, but I wanted to apologize for how I treated you before."

"It's ok," Alec said, his head down. "I don't blame you."

"Alec-"

"I can't do this right now," Alec interrupted. "I get what you're trying to do, but I don't blame you for how you treated me. I'm exactly who you think I am."

Logan slowly stood up, like he was afraid that if he moved to fast Alec would disappear. "Alec, let me get Sam real quick. Just…here, sit down and I'll get him, ok?" Logan looked genuinely worried for him, but he didn't care. He needed to talk to his brothers.

Logan tried to get him to sit down for another minute, but he wouldn't, couldn't, do it. "Ok, he went outside for just a second. Let me get him."

Logan went to the backdoor and opened it. Everything stopped. Sam and Tera were locked together in a deep kiss. Sam pulled her closer, and Alec couldn't believe his eyes. Logan cleared his throat, and Sam and Tera broke apart. Sam's eyes shifted to him, and his eyes widened in panic.

Sam started to move towards him, but he was already running.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	14. Chapter 14

"Sam, slow down," Dean demanded. "What d'you mean he's gone?"

"I can't find Alec anywhere," Sam said, his eyes wide with panic. "I've looked everywhere, but I can't find him."

"How do you know he left?" Dean asked. He couldn't tell what happened. He was still exhausted and he wasn't really following Sam's rushed explanations. He'd only slept for maybe 40 more minutes before Sam came barging in and yelling that Alec was gone.

"I-I, um, it's hard to explain, but he's gone and it's my fault," Sam said. "He left Freak Valley. Link said he hopped the fence and just started running."

Dean's first thought was to go after his little brother. Alec could get into all sorts of trouble without even trying, but something had upset him, which meant he was probably looking for trouble.

"I ran after him for a while, but he's too fast," Sam said. "He's gone."

"Sam, whatever happened, it sounds like he's pissed. Just let him cool off for a minute. He'll call if he needs help or he'll come back when he's ready," Dean said, trying to go for reason. He felt like running after Alec too, but they needed to think about this for a second. He knew Alec was in a mood and they needed to give him some space.

Sam ran his hands through his hair and turned around. "I messed up. He's never gonna trust me again…"

"Sam," Dean said, putting his hands on Sam's shoulders to stop him. He was dying to know what had happened, but he didn't want to push right now. Sam was in full freak out mode and he couldn't blame him. "He's gonna be alright. He was trying to work through some stuff before and it must've all just piled up. So whatever happened, I'm sure he'll forgive you for it."

"He caught me with Tera," Sam quickly admitted, daring him to say that was alright. "I was making out with the demon that had him possessed and nearly killed him and he saw it."

Dean took an involuntary step back and breathed out, "What?"

"You heard me!" Sam yelled. "I like her! I like being around her!"

"She's a demon, Sam!" Dean yelled back. His brother couldn't be serious right now. They hated demons and he thought they were actually looking for a way to kill Tera, not keep her around longer. And definitely not make out with her.

"I don't care!"

"No. You're not allowed to do this," Dean ordered. He sounded like Dad just then and he knew it was a mistake, but he couldn't help it. Sam would not react well to that tone; he never had and he never would.

"You can't stop me!" Sam bellowed, just as Dean had expected. "You're not in charge of me! I can like whoever I want! I don't care that she's a demon!"

Dean reacted without thinking. His fist was slamming into Sam's face before he could stop himself. He wasn't good with words anyway; this would get his point across better than arguing with Sam. No wonder Alec took off. For him it was either take off right now or start throwing punches. He usually went with the latter.

Sam tried to turn with the punch, but held his hand against his cheek with the hit. Dean almost thought he was just going to walk away, but he didn't. Dean had to suddenly throw his arm up to block Sam's punch. Dean winced; his arms were already bruised from sparring with Alec and this was just making it worse.

But Sam had crossed the line. They had nearly lost their little brother because of Tera, not to mention their own lives. She had started a demon army to take over the world. Their whole job revolved around killing things like Tera. Sam was wrong.

Dean hit Sam again, hard. Anger welled up in him just thinking about what they were doing; he couldn't even imagine how Alec felt. Sam followed up with a hard hit to his cheek, but he threw one right back. They kept going; neither one willing to stop.

Blood suddenly filled his mouth as Sam got in another good hit. He was just about to throw another punch, but two hands grabbed his arms and roughly pulled him away. He struggled against whoever was pulling him back, but Garth and Ellen were pulling Sam away too.

"Knock it off!" Rufus growled in his ear. "I didn't come outta retirement just to babysit."

"Sam, calm down, use your words," Garth was telling Sam a few feet away.

Dean spit the blood out of his mouth and glared back at Rufus. "Lemme go."

"Not 'til you stop actin' like a 5 year old," Rufus replied.

Dean forced himself to stop struggling. Rufus relaxed his grip, and Dean immediately ripped his arms out of the hold. He stormed off, away from Sam.

"Take him either to our place or somewhere else until he cools down," Rufus said to Ellen and Garth. "Keep 'em away from each other…"

Dean ignored them and kept walking. He ignored Rufus when the older hunter ran after him and fell into step with him. "You gonna tell me what that was all about?"

"No," Dean replied shortly.

Rufus huffed, "This is why I don't get involved in this kinda crap…" Dean still refused to answer so Rufus tried to get him on a different track. "Where's the kid?"

Dean frowned, "Alec?"

"Yeah. Where'd he go?" Rufus asked, looking around. "He outta be the one to diffuse shit like this."

"He took off," Dean muttered.

"He comin' back?" Rufus asked. He was going for casual, but Dean could tell the older hunter was worried.

Dean shrugged, "I don't know…"

"Should I go find Bobby? You not givin' me real answers is really startin' ta piss me off. I'd knock some sense into ya myself, but since you already look like shit…" Rufus trailed off, glancing over at him to see if he would take the bait. He didn't and Rufus sighed. "I don't wanna care. And it's your fault that I care in the first place."

Dean frowned, "What? I didn't do anything."

"I was retired," Rufus stated. "I didn't talk to no one unless I had to go out and get more liquor. But then you went and rescued the kid and I can't help but like the kid 'cause he's funny and he got me my liquor. And the kid has friends who want to help and be hunters and they need someone to teach 'em and the kid convinced me to do that. And now I care and it's your fault. If you hadn't rescued the kid, I'd still be retired."

"If I hadn't rescued Alec, he'd be dead," Dean shot back. "Or he would wish he was. They would've caught him if me and Sam hadn't been there. He was already hurt and if we hadn't gotten him outta Seattle when we did, he wouldn't be around right now to get you your liquor."

Dean expected Rufus to yell back or start up another fight, but he didn't. Instead, he smirked. "I knew I could get ya talkin'." Dean frowned, but Rufus continued, "I do actually care about the kid."

Dean nodded; he knew Rufus cared about Alec. His little brother was the only person Rufus didn't argue with. "I don't know where he went," Dean admitted quietly. "I know why he left, but I don't know if he's comin' back…"

Rufus sighed, "I'm guessin' this has somethin' ta do with why you were hittin' Sam."

Dean nodded again, but refused to tell him what it was. He was pissed at Sam, but he didn't want everyone to know why.

"You gonna go lookin' for him?" Rufus asked, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. Dean didn't answer so Rufus hesitantly offered, "I'll go with ya ta look…"

Dean gave Rufus a small smile, "Thanks, but I'm gonna give him a little bit to cool off. I'm hopin' he's gonna just come back."

"If he doesn't, you won't be alone in your search," Rufus said, his eyes purposefully shifted away from him. Dean's smile grew a little and he clapped Rufus on the back. He'd wait a little while before he went after Alec, but he'd let Rufus know when he went.

* * *

"Sam! That's enough!" Ellen yelled, pushing against his chest. He was glaring after Dean and he had half a mind to go after his older brother.

He was mad; he was mad at Dean for telling him what to do, he was mad at Alec for making a big deal about nothing, he was mad at Logan for opening the door, and he was mad at himself for getting caught in the first place.

He knew Dean and Alec still hated Tera, but they didn't know her like he did. She wasn't like the other demons and he couldn't help that he liked her.

"What's goin' on Sam?" Garth asked. "Why are you and Dean hittin' each other? You guys are brothers, you're not supposed to hit each other like that."

"Just leave me alone!" Sam yelled, unable to take it anymore. He stormed off towards Command. He hoped Garth and Ellen would just give up after a few minutes.

"Sam!" Ellen said sharply. She was trying to get him to stop, but he ignored her.

He stomped back to Command and Ellen and Garth stopped following him after a while. He slammed open the door, making Logan jump in surprise.

"Where's Alec?" Logan asked cautiously.

"Why do you care?" Sam snarled.

Logan's face fell slightly, but then he quickly changed directions, "I'm sorry Sam. I didn't realize that he didn't know. He was freaking out and I didn't know what he was going to do so I thought it would be best to get you before he took off."

Sam just brushed by him and muttered, "I have to get ready for the hunt."

"Sam!" Logan called after him, but he was already headed for the door.

* * *

He needed to forget and he only knew one way he could do that. He went to Seattle to find a bar to drink for a while. When that failed to block out the memory of Sam kissing the demon, he moved on to plan B. He started a fight.

He didn't care who was in the fight and he really didn't care if he lost. His knuckles cracked, his lip split, his side ached, and his head throbbed. None of it mattered though. He felt betrayed; it took everything he had to not kill Tera. He had almost killed his brothers because of her; he almost lost everything on that hunt. And now Sam was with her.

Two men suddenly grabbed his arms. He didn't even try to free himself. Another man hit him hard in the side, and then again across his face. He was hit at least four more times when someone decided to break it up.

The men were suddenly shoved off of him, and he collapsed to the ground without their support. Someone else roughly grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. He stumbled along as the man drug him through the bar. The man stopped briefly to grab his jacket from where he'd been sitting before he kept going.

"I said, that's enough," the man growled in his ear. Alec realized it was the bartender. He'd been yelling at them all to break it up during the entire fight, but no one had listened to him. The man opened a door, and Alec expected to be thrown outside, but instead the man brought him into a side room and sat him in a wooden armchair.

"Can I trust you to not run away?" The man asked him. Alec refused to meet his eyes so the man grabbed his chin and forced him to look back at him. "Can I trust you to not run away?" The man repeated.

"Go to Hell," Alec snarled.

The man sighed and walked over to a desk, tossing his abandoned jacket over the top. He grabbed something and walked back over to him. Alec felt dread creep up his spine as the man zip tied both of his arms to the chair. He hated being restrained, but he let the man do this. He could still find a way out of here.

"Don't do anything stupid," the man told him. "I'm just goin' out there to straighten things up, and then I'm comin' back. I wanna talk to you, and this will give you a chance to cool down and not destroy my office."

Alec just glared back at him until he left. He scanned the small room for a way out as soon as he was gone. He wanted to forget, but he didn't want to get caught up with the cops. They might hate him more than White did now, considering how he made them all look like idiots. He knew he shouldn't have done this, but hindsight was always 20/20.

Alec rocked in the chair to test its strength. It wasn't as flimsy as he would've liked, but he figured he could still break it. He gathered his strength before he sort of jumped with the chair, and then landed on the back two legs. The chair splintered; a piece breaking off in his forearm, but he still had to yank his arms to be completely free of the zip ties.

Blood ran down his arm, but he ignored that and looked up at the small window. He could easily jump to get to it, but he needed to break it before he could get out of here. The only other thing in the room was the desk. He could either use the desk to stand on, or he could push the desk in front of the door to block it.

It only took him a second to decide. He grabbed the desk and swung it towards the window. He hopped onto the top of the desk, but then turned his back towards the window. He brought his hurt arm up, and slammed his elbow against the glass. Alec suddenly broke down and held his arm in pain. He looked back to the glass, but was disappointed to see that his hit had only cracked it.

"Dammit…" Alec muttered.

He took a few deep breaths to get ready to try again, but the door opened before he could. The man walked in again, took in the room, and looked at him with disappointment.

"Now this is what I was talkin' about when I told you to not do somethin' stupid," the man said. Alec just stared back at him. "You trashed my bar, you broke my chair, and now you're trying to take out my window." Alec refused to move, or even say anything. "You at least owe me a conversation."

"You call the cops?" Alec asked.

"No," the man stated.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You don't."

Alec weighed his options, but decided he should at least talk for a minute. If he had to, he could take the guy out and just run out the front.

"My name's Hank," he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

"Alec."

"Are you just cocky or do you really like gettin' your ass kicked?" Hank asked him. Alec scowled. "You took on an entire bar for no reason. Begs the question of cocky or stupid." Alec looked away from him. "Or are you aimin' to forget?"

Alec didn't know why, but he answered the man, "The last one…"

Hank nodded, and then asked, "Girl problems? Or family?" Alec looked up when Hank said family, giving the man his answer. "I see. Mom? Dad?" Hank asked, trying to get to the bottom of it. He paused for a second, "Brother?"

Alec shrugged. Hank waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Blood dripped down his arm and dropped from his fingers. It was starting to pool on the desk and he just watched it.

"C'mon, sit down on the desk and let's see what I can do," Hank told him. Alec hesitated; he didn't want to trust this guy.

"You got a phone?" Alec asked him instead. His phone was crushed somewhere in the bar. It'd fallen out of his pocket and someone had stepped on it.

"Yeah."

"Can I use it?"

"You gotta tell me who you're callin'," Hank replied.

"My ride," Alec hedged. Hank got up and grabbed a phone and handed it to him. Alec didn't waste any time dialing Dean's number.

"Hello?" Dean answered hesitantly, not recognizing the number.

"Dean…it's me," Alec said.

"Alec! Thank God!" Dean replied. "Where are you? You want me to come get you?"

Alec nodded, forgetting that Dean couldn't see him. "Yeah…" Alec cleared his throat. "I'm at a bar in town…"

"Do you have a name for me? I'll find ya faster if I know where to go," Dean said.

"I don't know what it's called," Alec admitted.

"Hank's," the man said with a small smile.

"Hank's," Alec whispered to Dean.

"Alright kiddo, I'll be there soon," Dean reassured.

Dean hung up and Alec handed the phone back to Hank. "Dean, is that your brother?" Hank asked him.

"One of 'em," Alec replied. He slowly sat down on the top of the desk, cradling his injured arm.

"You gonna let me look at that now?" Hank asked.

"No."

"It's bleedin' pretty good there…"

Alec agreed with that, and decided he could use this to focus on something else. "You have a first aid kit?"

The guy raised his eyebrows in disbelief and Alec just stared back. "I don't have much," Hank finally replied. "Just some basic things like some gauze and some rubbing alcohol."

Alec shrugged, "That'll work." Hank still didn't look sure; Alec sighed and ripped the chunk of wood from his arm causing it to bleed freely. "Just go get it."

Hank gave him an unamused look before he got up and left the room. He was back a second later carrying a small box and a folding chair, but he didn't pass it over. Instead, he set up the chair and sat in front of him. He looked him right in the eyes and stated, "That was stupid."

"Got you moving," Alec replied.

Hank shook his head and reached out towards him, but he immediately pulled away. He didn't trust people to actually help him; in his experience it never turned out well for him. Sam and Dean were the exceptions to that rule. Hank cocked his head to the side slightly, as if trying to figure him out.

"You don't like people helping you?" Hank asked him.

"No."

"How about I just help pour the rubbing alcohol over your arm and I let you wrap it or whatever you want to do," Hank asked.

Alec thought about it for a second, and then turned his arm over. The cut was jagged and covered the majority of the length of his forearm. Hank moved a little closer so he could pour the alcohol over it; the cut foamed and burned when the liquid hit him. He clenched his jaw and breathed through the pain.

Hank stopped and got up to go get a towel. He cleaned off the extra rubbing alcohol from his arm and passed over the gauze. Alec quickly wrapped it, but his blood soaked through the bandages.

"You're gonna need stitches," Hank said.

"I know."

"You want a ride to the hospital?"

"No."

Hank sighed, but sat back to give him some space. "Alright, we'll just wait for your brother to get here."

Alec nodded; he was just fine with that.

* * *

"Where the Hell is Sam?" Dean asked Logan as he barged into Command.

"He's out back," Logan replied. Dean started to turn away, but Logan stopped him, "Dean…is there anything you want me to do?"

Dean shook his head and quickly ran back outside. He had to find Sam and tell him that he knew where Alec was and he was going to get him. He was still pissed at Sam, but if their roles were reversed, he'd still want to know where his little brother was.

He finally found Sam with a small group of transgenics and Ellen. "What're you doing?" Dean asked as he ran up. Panda, Stella, Tack, Pete, and Roger were all standing around them, looking like they were gearing up for a hunt, but Pete and Roger weren't in Sam's group, they were in Alec's.

"We're leaving for the hunt," Sam replied with his eyes down.

"Where's Max and Josh?" Dean asked. "I thought they were in your group…"

"Max had to go fix something across the valley and Josh is helping her," Sam said. "Pete and Roger are filling in. The shifter is probably going to attack tonight. Logan figured out that it attacks every three days, so we need to go now."

"I know where Alec is," Dean said. "I'm gonna go get him…you wanna come with me?" He was giving Sam a chance to talk to both of them and explain what had happened. Maybe this was all a big misunderstanding.

"He doesn't want to talk to me, and I've gotta go," Sam replied, brushing by him. The others followed him, but Ellen hung back for a minute.

"Maybe this is good for all of you," Ellen said softly. "Give you guys some space so you can all cool off…" Dean nodded, and then Ellen reassured, "I'll watch out for him. You go get Alec."

"Thanks Ellen," Dean said.

Ellen gave him a quick side hug before she followed after Sam. Dean rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, and then ran his hand down his face. He needed to focus on one thing at a time; he would go find Alec, and then he would figure out what to do with Sam.

He needed to get going, but he decided to get Rufus before he left. The older hunter was still worried about Alec and it might put him on Rufus's good side if he took Rufus with him. He ran over to the house that Rufus, Garth, Ellen, and Jo had been staying in and quickly knocked on the door.

He had to wait a minute before Garth finally pulled the door open. "Hey Dean, watcha doin'?"

"Is Rufus here?" Dean asked instead of answering.

"Yeah, c'mon in," Garth replied, motioning him inside.

Dean sighed, but followed Garth inside until they made it to Rufus in the kitchen. Rufus raised his eyebrows once he saw him, silently asking him what he wanted. "Alec called, and he wants me to come get him. You wanna go or not?"

"Lead the way," Rufus said. Dean didn't waste any more time before he started for the door again with Rufus on his heels.

"Can I go too?" Garth asked, trailing after them.

Dean sighed; he hadn't expected to bring a lot of people with him, but he was in a hurry. "Only if you can keep up," Dean grumbled.

"Awesome!" Garth said, and Dean rolled his eyes.

"So where's he at?" Rufus asked.

"Some bar," Dean said with a shrug. "He probably started a fight or something…That's what I would've done."

"That's what you did do, you moron," Rufus said. "What else would you call slamming your fist into your brother's face?"

"If you're gonna talk, then I'm not takin' you with me."

Rufus chuckled, but he didn't say anything else. Garth and Rufus followed him all the way back to the car and they rode in silence all the way to town. He didn't really know if Alec would be ok that he brought Rufus and Garth with him, but he thought it was nice that they cared so much for him. Alec would be ok with the company for the trip back, and then he'd make sure no one hung around him once they got back.

Dean pulled into Hank's bar and cut the engine. "You guys stay here. I'll go in and get him."

Dean didn't wait for either of them to reply before he got out and headed for the door. The bar was deserted, but chairs were tipped over, glass was scattered across the floor, pool cues were broken in half, the whole place was a mess, but he didn't see Alec anywhere.

"Alec?" Dean called out. He turned in a circle, but there was no sign of his little brother. A side door across the room suddenly opened and Dean instantly turned to focus on it. A man walked out, but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw him.

"Yeah, you guys are brothers…" the man muttered. "C'mon, Alec's in here."

Dean practically ran to the office to get to his little brother. He ignored whoever the guy was; he didn't really matter unless he hurt his little brother. If this guy hurt Alec then he would take him out, there was no question about it.

Dean stopped in the doorway when his eyes landed on Alec. He was sitting on the top of a desk holding some bloody gauze to his arm. His lip was split, he had bruises on his jaw, and he looked miserable, but he did smile a little when he saw him.

"Someone have a knife?" Dean asked as he walked closer, looking at Alec's arm.

Alec shook his head, "I broke the chair and a chunk of wood broke off in my arm. I pulled it out, but it needs stitches."

"Alec…" Dean sighed.

"I'm sorry," Alec said softly, ducking his head down. Dean felt terrible; Alec thought he was in trouble, but Dean just wanted to keep him safe.

Dean put his hand on the back of Alec's neck so he'd look at him and reassured, "It's ok…I just don't like seein' ya hurt."

"I'm alright…" Alec muttered. Dean raised his eyebrows in disbelief, which got Alec to smile again.

"Let's get you back so I can stitch up your arm and get you some ice," Dean said, ruffling Alec's hair. "Also, head's up, I brought some of your besties with me."

"Really? Who?" Alec asked with a chuckle.

"Rufus and Garth," Dean said, and Alec's smile grew. "Now, c'mon, let's get goin'."

Alec moved to get off of the desk and Dean reached out to help him and grabbed his jacket from the desk. He put his arm around Alec's shoulders, more for emotional support than physical support.

"Sorry about the mess Hank," Alec said to the man.

"It's no problem," Hank replied. "Just glad I could help a little."

Alec nodded, and then leaned against him just a little bit more.

Dean knocked on the passenger window once they were by the car, making Rufus jump. He opened the door a crack and grumbled, "What?"

"Move. Alec's sitting up front," Dean said. Rufus looked up in surprise at hearing that Alec was with him, and Dean frowned. "What? Did you think I wouldn't get him?"

"I thought you had the wrong bar," Rufus replied. He gave Alec a quick once over and said, "You look like shit."

"That good, huh?" Alec said with a small smirk.

Rufus chuckled and got up so Alec could sit down. He patted Alec's shoulder before he got in the backseat. Alec leaned against his door once they started moving, and closed his eyes. Dean was ready to drive the whole way back in silence since he didn't think Alec felt like talking, but he was wrong.

"Hey kid, did you at least get in a few good hits?" Rufus asked, leaning forward to rest his arm against the back of the seat.

Alec huffed, "What do you think?"

Rufus thought for a minute, and then nodded, "Yeah, I think you got in a few."

"What'd you do to your arm?" Garth asked. "That doesn't look like it's from a fight…"

"I broke a chair and a chunk…" Alec held up his hands to show how big the chunk was, "…of wood broke off in my arm, so I yanked it out."

"Whoa! Are you serious?" Garth asked.

Alec chuckled and held up his bleeding arm, "Yeah, I've got some proof."

Garth smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Tonight's the perfect time for us to shoot some pool," Rufus muttered. "Maybe we'll actually make a game of it."

"I doubt it," Garth said. "Alec could still beat us even if he lost his arm instead of just getting a bad cut."

"Toothpick, Alec could beat you even if he didn't have _any_ arms," Rufus said in amusement. Dean glanced over at Alec and saw that he was silently laughing to himself.

"You know what I think would be a good game?" Garth asked. "Dean and Alec."

"How do you know that I can even play pool?" Dean asked, shooting Alec another side glance. Alec smirked back at him, and Dean knew he was thinking about the first time they had ever played pool together. Alec had hustled him and Sam the first time they had played, making them think he didn't know how. Dean still found it funny.

"I figured Alec had to get it somewhere," Garth replied with a shrug.

Dean chuckled, "Well, you're right about that." Alec pushed him over slightly, and Dean reached over to mess up his hair in return.

Garth and Rufus talked about pool the rest of the way to Freak Valley. Alec would throw in his opinion every once in a while, and Dean watched over Alec as he drove. He had to tell Rufus and Garth to get lost once they got back; he wanted to take care of his little brother and he knew Alec wouldn't want an audience.

He brought Alec into their house, and he was happy to see that it was empty. Alec let him lead him through the house until they got back to his own room. Dean had Alec sit on the bed while he went to go get their first aid kit.

Alec let him help without any complaints, which was weird for him. Dean shouldn't have been surprised though, since Alec was still upset about what had happened. Dean wanted to talk about it, but he knew Alec didn't want to. So, he fixed up Alec's arm and all the other cuts he could find. He got a couple pills and held them out for Alec to take them.

Alec looked up at him, and Dean thought he was going to refuse. "C'mon, it'll help ya sleep…" Alec nodded and finally took the pills from him. "Alright, now go ahead and lay down," Dean told him, helping him get more comfortable. Dean shrugged out of his leather jacket and put it over Alec as a blanket. He knew Alec could get under the covers, but this might help him sleep.

Alec pulled his jacket closer and snuggled further on his pillow. "Thanks Dean," Alec whispered, already falling asleep.

Dean went over to the other side of the bed and sat down next to Alec and leaned against the headboard. He was exhausted and he knew he wouldn't stay awake for long. The stress of the day was really catching up to him, but now he had a moment to rest. He still needed to figure out how to talk to Sam and what to do with that situation, but for now he would just hang out with his little brother, and they would figure everything out later.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	15. Chapter 15

"Sam, I think we need to slow down," Ellen stated. "We're dealin' with a shifter here and a handful of new hunters. I don't think we should do this half assed."

"And I say we should just go in there and get it over with," Sam argued. He wasn't thinking straight; part of him wanted to stay on this hunt for a while so he wouldn't have to go back, but the other part of him just wanted to get back and talk to Alec. He couldn't stand knowing that his little brother didn't trust him and it was making him off balance.

"We don't even know if it's in there or not," Ellen hissed.

"It's in there. I know it is."

"Sam-"

Sam ignored her and nodded to the rest of his group. They were all eager to hunt, and he wasn't in the mood to go over everything he should. He'd given them the basics in the car, but he hadn't bothered with more than that. There were seven of them and only one shifter; this should be a piece of cake.

He hadn't waited for Max or Joshua because he knew Max would want all of the facts and go over every little thing that they were going to do before they went in. He didn't want to wait; he wanted to kill something.

He had his gun with silver bullets and he had a silver knife and everyone in his group had the same things. He wasn't worried about this hunt, especially since everyone was trained and he had Ellen as backup. This would be a simple hunt as long as the shifter was actually in the bowling alley. He really hoped they wouldn't have to go looking for this thing.

He went in and flashed his badged to the kid behind the counter. He was just a teenager with shaggy blonde hair and a rumpled uniform. He wasn't really paying attention, but his eyes widened when he barged in.

"You're closing early," Sam told the kid.

The kid nodded and quickly ran out from behind the counter. There weren't any customers, so once the kid left he was alone. He looked around the empty place for a moment just to make sure they were really alone. He poked his head back outside to look for his team as soon as he was sure no one was there.

He found Stella, Tack, Pete, Roger, and Ellen standing outside and waiting for him. He frowned though when he didn't see Panda. "Where's Panda?"

"Right here," Panda said, running up to them again. "Had to take a leak…"

"Alright…" Sam muttered. "The place is empty, but we should search it to see if it's been here."

Ellen nodded her agreement and his team followed him back inside.

They split up so it would be faster to search the building. He took Tack with him, he sent Roger with Ellen, and then let Panda, Pete, and Stella be in a group together. He thought it would be ok to send the three transgenics together; they would be able to take care of each other and handle the one shifter if they found it.

Sam and Tack were silent as they made their way to the back of the bowling alley. If the shifter was really here, it would either be behind the lanes or in some kind of storage closet. The bowling alley wasn't huge, so this shouldn't take long.

Sam brushed aside a cobweb as he led the way behind the lanes. It was pretty dark back here so he got out his flashlight so they could see. He forgot that Tack could see just fine without the light, but that was ok, he still needed it if he was going to find any signs that the shifter had been there.

They were almost to the end of the lanes when he finally found a clue that told him they were in the right place. He crouched down next to the pile of goop and pointed it out to Tack. "When it sheds its skin, this is what it leaves behind."

She cocked her head to the side and stated, "Gross."

"Yeah," Sam breathed out, standing up again. "But now we know it's here."

"We just have to find it…" Tack muttered.

Three gunshots suddenly filled the air. Sam was running before he even processed what he'd heard. "Ellen!" Sam called out as he and Tack ran.

He skidded to a stop once they were in the main area again and Ellen and Roger ran in from the other side. "It must've been the other group," Ellen said, meaning Panda, Stella, and Pete.

Sam ran his hand through his hair; he should've gone slower. If one of them was dead, it was his fault. "Which way did they go?"

"I think they went up to the attic…"

Sam whirled around when he didn't recognize the voice that answered him. The kid that had been behind the counter strolled closer with his hands in his pockets. "You?" Sam asked in confusion.

The kid smiled, "Yeah. Pretty good disguise, huh? You didn't even look twice at me." The kid slowly started to walk closer, "You flashed your fancy badge and just ordered me right out of my home. Pretty cocky if you ask me…"

"Did you hurt them?" Sam asked. He figured the shifter would lie to him, but he might be able to pick out the truth from the lie.

The kid smirked and shrugged. Before Sam could react the kid ran right at him and plowed into him. Sam's eyes widened, but he couldn't figure out why the kid made this move. He was way outnumbered and he had to know this was suicidal. But he hit the ground hard and the air whooshed out of him.

Tack and Roger immediately pulled the kid off of him and slammed him to the ground. They both pulled their guns and shot the kid in the heart before Sam could even blink. He forgot how fast transgenics were. It always shocked him to see Alec move that fast, but it was even weirder to see someone else do it. He was used to Alec moving superfast, but seeing others do it too was shocking.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Ellen said to fill the silence. She walked over and helped him back to his feet. "You alright?"

Sam nodded, but then asked, "Why would he do that?"

"He knew there was no hope," Ellen said with a shrug. "Maybe he just wanted to go down fighting."

"Maybe…"

"He's dead now, so stop thinkin' about it and let's go find the rest of your team," Ellen said.

Sam nodded again and went off to search for where the stairs to the attic were. He ran up the stairs as soon as they found them in the back office; he just had to hope that the others were ok.

Panda, Stella, and Pete were unconscious once he finally found them, but he was relieved to find that they were still alive. The kid was probably going to come back to them to shed his skin, but he didn't have time. There was a lot of goop up in the attic and Sam figured this was where the shifter had been hiding out for a while now.

"You guys ok?" Sam asked as they slowly came back around.

Panda nodded, "Yeah, I think so…"

"That kid just got the drop on us," Pete said in disbelief.

"He's gone now," Sam reassured. "And I'm sorry. I should've taken more time on this hunt."

His team all claimed it was ok and said that they really liked hunting. They were laughing and talking all about it on the way back to the car, but Sam hung back and walked with Ellen.

"You were right, I should've gone slower," Sam admitted.

"I don't know…that seemed like a pretty simple hunt," Ellen replied, giving him an out. "I might've overreacted a little."

Sam shrugged, "At least no one got hurt." He thought maybe it was a little too easy, but they'd all made it out and they had killed the monster so he should just let it go. It was probably just so easy because he had transgenics backing him up. They really were naturals at hunting.

Ellen nodded in agreement and gave him a side hug. "You did good sweetie. Now you just gotta go make things right with your brothers."

Sam gave her a sad smile, "I just hope they'll listen…"

"They will," Ellen reassured.

Sam wasn't so sure, but he was willing to try. He needed his brothers in his life.

* * *

Alec felt so safe and warm with Dean's jacket over him. He shifted slightly and Dean's arm suddenly tightened around him. He smiled a little; sometime in the night he must've moved over to be closer to his big brother. He felt silly, but it felt good to be comforted. He felt like the little kid he'd never gotten to be and he never wanted to lose this.

But he couldn't lie to his brother anymore. He was mad at Sam right now for lying to him and he didn't want to do the same thing anymore. He fisted his hand in Dean's shirt; he didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to lose this. If he told Dean everything he'd done, he wouldn't have this anymore.

"Hey, you ok?" Dean slurred, feeling him tense in his sleep. Alec just nodded against Dean. "Does your arm hurt?"

"I'm ok…" Alec whispered.

Dean frowned and opened his eyes a crack to glance down at him. Alec scanned Dean's face, but he scowled when he saw fresh bruises on his cheek and jaw. "What's wrong?" Dean asked in confusion.

"Did you get in a fight?" Alec asked instead of answering.

Dean nodded and slowly sat up. Alec sat up too and faced his brother. He expected Dean to explain where the bruises had come from, but instead Dean reached out and gently turned his head to the side. "Do you want some ice? I should've gotten you some last night, but I wasn't thinking."

"Dean, where'd you get the bruises?" Alec asked, ignoring Dean's concern for now.

Dean sighed, "Alec, I…Um…You know I'm not the best with words…"

"I don't know, you always seem to know what to say to me," Alec said with a shrug.

"Well, when I'm mad…" Dean ran his hand through his hair, "Sam told me what happened and I got mad and instead of talking about it I punched Sam and we were fighting until Rufus, Garth, and Ellen pulled us apart."

"You hit Sam?" Alec asked, surprised. Sam and Dean didn't always get along, they did fight sometimes, but he'd never seen them hit each other.

"Yeah I hit Sam. He was makin' out with a demon," Dean replied like it was obvious.

"Where is Sam?" Alec asked.

"He went on the hunt," Dean said. "I tried to get him to wait, but he didn't want to listen." Alec nodded, but didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say, and it seemed like Dean didn't know either. His brother reached out again after a moment and picked up his wrist.

"Dean…I gotta tell you something," Alec said as Dean carefully unwrapped his arm. He thought it would be easier to talk while Dean was doing something.

Dean kept working on his arm, checking his stitches and making sure it wasn't infected, but then asked, "Yeah? What's that?"

Alec cleared his throat, "I wanna tell you what all I've done…"

Dean stopped what he was doing and looked up at him. "What do you mean what all you've done?"

"You and Sam think I'm a good person, but I'm not. I know I told you what I did for a living so to speak, but I don't think you understand," Alec said.

"Alec-"

"I feel like I'm lying to you," Alec quickly cut off. "I hunted down and killed someone when I was around nine years old. It was something all the units had to do. They used to send me in undercover when I was a kid to take out big politicians and the heads of different companies because no one would suspect a kid. I killed one of my own unit mates just because I was told to. I shot him and I never asked why. I killed someone and took their identity so I could get close to Rachel so I could kill her dad, but then they wanted me to kill her too and I couldn't do it. They stepped in and tried to get the job done anyway and she died and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I slept with women to get close enough to their husbands to kill them. I stole drugs from the infirmary, and then sold them to the guards. I was told to have sex with Max and she didn't want to, and I would've had to force her to have sex with me except they wanted me to get close to her so I could get to Logan. I killed a transhuman to save my own skin and I was going to kill either Max or Joshua, but then Max found a way to save me. And then I only helped her in Seattle because I owed her."

"Alec," Dean whispered. He reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, but Alec pulled away from him.

"I know what you're gonna say, but there's no excuse. I only did those things to save myself, and I know that they would've gotten someone else to do the job if I wasn't around, but I'm still a monster. I don't know how I can live with myself and I don't know how you can even stand to be around me," Alec said, tears filling his eyes.

Dean's eyes were full of tears too, and Alec expected him to say something, but instead he reached out again and pulled him into a hug before he could get away. Alec remained tense for another minute before he broke down.

He hid his face against Dean's neck and let the tears fall. "I'm sorry. I didn't wanna tell you because I wanted to stay. But I was lying to you and I understand if you want me to go, I won't make a big deal about it. I just didn't want to disappoint you. I'm sorry Dean."

"Shh, it's ok Alec," Dean soothed, rubbing his back. "Everything's ok." Dean held him close, and he couldn't help clinging to his brother. He didn't want to go; he didn't want to lose his family.

Dean actually kissed the side of his head before he pulled back slightly. He wiped away the tears and said, "Alright, it's time to listen now, ok?" Alec sniffed and nodded. "I'm never letting you go, alright? If you decide to leave then I can't stop you, but I don't want you to leave. It sounds bad, but I don't care what you've done, I only care about how it affects you now. This stuff is eating you up, and I'm gonna help you however I can. And you know somethin'? You're not the same person you were then. You're not even the same person you were when we found you."

Alec cocked his head to the side and Dean chuckled. "Believe it or not, you've changed, kiddo. You're still cocky and sarcastic, but you've relaxed a lot and you've opened up to me and Sam. You let us help you now, for the most part, instead of hiding stuff from us."

"I still went and started a fight," Alec said. "I started it on purpose."

Dean smiled and ruffled his hair, "So did I. You're forgetting that we have the same blood and we tend to think the same way. Besides that, you called me to come get you. You wouldn't've done that a year ago."

Alec smiled just a little and nodded again.

"What's bothering you the most?" Dean asked, knowing that he wasn't going to just let it go.

"You said I've changed, but what if I change back?" Alec asked, his voice small.

Dean took a deep breath and said, "Alec, we're brothers and brothers look out for each other. I'm lookin' out for you, kiddo, and I'll make sure you don't change back. And if something happens and for some reason you do change, then we'll get ya back, ok?"

"Ok," Alec replied.

Dean pulled him in for another hug, and this time he returned the hug. "Everything's gonna be ok," Dean whispered to him. "You're my little brother and nothin's ever gonna change that."

"Thanks Dean," Alec whispered back. "Thanks for everything."

Alec sort of snuggled against Dean for a second before he pulled away. Dean looked down at his shirt and frowned, "Did you just wipe your nose on my shirt?"

Alec broke into a slow smile, "You said you would help me however you could."

Dean let out a surprised laugh and pushed him over, "I didn't mean you could use me as a Kleenex."

"You didn't say I couldn't," Alec pointed out, sitting up again.

"You're somethin' else," Dean said with a chuckle. Alec started to pull on Dean's jacket because it was warm and it smelled like Dean, and he wanted to see what Dean would do. "What're you doing?" Dean asked, confused.

"Putting on your jacket," Alec replied.

"I can see that. Why?"

Alec shrugged, "It's warm and I like it."

"One day," Dean stated. "You can wear it for one day, and then you're giving it back to me. It's not gonna be like the boots you stole from me or the t-shirts that keep disappearing. Or Sam's hoodie…"

Alec looked up in surprise; he didn't think Dean knew about that one. His brothers bought him clothes, but he happened to like their clothes better. And so, he would borrow their clothes, and then forget to give them back.

It was just chance that he'd found Sam's hoodie. It was dark gray and it just looked really comfy so he'd tried it on. It was probably one of his favorites since it was too big for him and it was really soft and warm. He never wore it around his brothers so it was weird that Dean knew he had it.

"I was lookin' for it the other day," Dean told him before he could ask. "I was gonna let you wear it after the hunt since your head was hurtin' so bad, but I couldn't find it and the only place I figured it could be was your bag."

"I was only borrowing it," Alec said with a small smile. He shrugged out of Dean's jacket and passed it over to him. "You can have it back. I was just messing with you."

Dean slowly took the jacket, but his eyes were down, "This was my Dad's…"

Alec could tell this was a big deal to Dean so he quickly apologized, "Dean, I'm sorry, I wasn't actually gonna take it. I was just messing with you. And I was gonna give Sam back his hoodie…but as for the t-shirts, I'm not really sure which ones belong to me and which ones are yours anymore…"

Dean chuckled, "Alec, it's ok. I'll just steal the shirts back when I run out, and I don't think Sam even knows his hoodie is missing." Dean cleared his throat, and then continued, "My Dad sold his soul to save my life." Alec had no idea what to say; Bobby had mentioned this before, but he had forgotten to get more information. But Dean kept going before he could think of something. "It's complicated, but we were in this car wreck and I was in a coma. This reaper was after me I guess, at least that's what Sam told me, but I don't remember it. Anyway, the jacket was his and I always liked it. It always made me feel safe."

Alec nodded in understanding; that's how he'd felt when he had the jacket too.

"Listen, I get being mad at Sam," Dean said, changing the subject. "I was mad at him for a long time and we fight a lot-"

"I don't really see you fight," Alec cut in. He'd seen them bicker about things like brothers do, but he'd never really seen them fight.

"Well, we kind of hide it from you if we're really fighting. But we honestly haven't really had any big fights for a while…" Dean said, lost in thought. "But this is a big one," Dean said, coming back to the conversation. "And you're right in the middle of it, which we both wanted to avoid because we're a tad protective over you. But I agree that he crossed the line, but I think we need to talk to him."

"I don't even know what to say," Alec replied. "I'm afraid I'll just get mad and hit him or something."

"I already did that," Dean said, ruffling his hair. "And we'll all just sit down and try to talk this through."

Alec took a deep breath and nodded. Dean's phone suddenly went off, and Alec flopped back on the bed as he waited. Max was on the other end and she was looking for him. He'd forgotten that his phone was crushed on the floor back at the bar. She also wanted to tell Dean that Sam was back from his hunt that he'd gone on without her. She didn't sound happy, and he knew she would be even madder when she saw his arm and the new bruises.

"You catch all that?" Dean asked as he hung up.

"Yeah, I got it…"

"You go find Max so she doesn't freak out and I'll wander around until I find Sam, and then you can find us later," Dean said.

Alec groaned and slowly pushed himself off of the bed. "Hey," Dean said, stopping him. He held out his jacket and said, "Put this on. It's starting to storm, and I don't want you getting sick."

"I don't get sick," Alec automatically replied. "You need it more than I do."

"I have more jackets in here and I know most of your stuff is at Max's place," Dean said. "Just bring it back, ok?"

"You sure?" Alec asked; he was nervous borrowing something that was so important to Dean. It was like when he hadn't wanted to drive the Impala; he hadn't wanted to wreck it and ruin one of Dean's prized possessions.

"I'm sure," Dean said with a small smile.

"I'll be really careful with it, I promise," Alec said, walking towards the door and shrugging on the jacket.

"I know you will be," Dean said.

"I'll catch up with you later," Alec said. Dean nodded and he walked out.

He ducked his head as soon as he was outside. It was pouring and he was soaked almost instantly; he wished he could've just stayed inside since he hated being wet, but he knew he should find Max. He actually hadn't been able to see her very much recently and he wasn't sure how much longer they would be staying. He'd probably take his group on a hunt before they left, but that wouldn't take too long.

He liked being with Max, but it would be nice to get on the road again. Even though he was mad at Sam, he still liked traveling with his brothers. He liked going new places and seeing what else was out there. He never really saw much while he was at Manticore unless it was part of the mission, and then he'd been in Seattle once he was free.

He liked moving around and even though they had a house here, the Impala felt like home to him. The backseat was his unless Sam or Dean needed him to drive. Dean drove most of the time, but he needed a break sometimes too.

Alec looked up and he was surprised to see that he was already at Max's place. He quickly opened the door and stepped inside so he could be out of the rain. He shook the water from his hair, but he jumped when someone pulled him further inside.

"You're soaked," Max said. "And what did you do?! You're covered in bruises…"

"A lot's goin' on right now…" Alec muttered.

"Yeah, did you know that your brother left without me," Max said. "He went on the hunt without me."

"Well, you're not alone being mad at Sam," Alec said.

"What did he do?" Max asked, surprised.

"It doesn't matter," Alec said with a shrug. "Me and Dean are gonna talk to him I guess."

"You ok?" Max asked him softly.

"I'm fine."

Max took a deep breath, but dropped it. "Do you want to change? I know how you feel about the rain…"

"Nah, I'm just goin' back out there again," Alec replied.

"You know, you really look like Dean with his jacket on," Max said. "I almost thought you were Dean when you walked in."

"He thinks I'm gonna get sick every time it rains," Alec said with a huff.

Max started to say something else, but her phone went off before she could really say anything. "Go for Max," she answered.

'Max, we have a serious problem,' Link said on the other end.

"What is it?" Max asked with a frown.

'It's Wh-'

A gunshot cut off the rest of what Link was going to say, and Alec was instantly running. Max was right behind him as they sprinted to the gate.

* * *

He watched as Max and Alec ran through the streets. He had downloaded most of Panda's memories so he recognized the two people who ran by.

Taking Panda out and turning into him had been one of his best decisions ever. He almost let the transgenic pee in peace, but now he was glad that he didn't. This was the best body he'd ever had and as soon as he found out how many hunters were here, he knew he had to take the chance.

Parker had sacrificed himself to get rid of the hunters and buy the rest of them cover. He would honor Parker's decision and take out as many hunters and transgenics as he could. They were a threat to his kind and he needed to get rid of them.

He turned to Stella and Pete and said, "Split up. Take out as many as you can, but if you find Sam or Dean call me before you take them out. We'll need to be smart about this if we're going to be able to kill them."

He had taken Stella and Pete out once they were in the attic so his friends could take them over. It had almost been a mistake because Pete had almost been able to shoot him. But he'd made it out ok and had managed to hide the bodies before Sam came up to find them. He was surprised that the hunter hadn't questioned the ease of the hunt, but that was in his favor. Everything was working out just how it was supposed to. And with this new distraction at the gate, everything should work in his favor.

Stella and Pete nodded before they took off in different directions. He watched Alec for a moment before he took off in the direction that Alec had come from. He had a plan to take them all down.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	16. Chapter 16

_Warning: this is a long chapter with lots of violence so head's up._

* * *

Alec slowed down and pulled his gun as he and Max reached the gate. He hid behind the garage and peeked out to see what was going on. Four SUVs were rolling through the gate, and a chill went down his spine.

Max touched his shoulder and pointed. He looked where she pointed and his heart sank when he saw Link lying on the ground, blood pooling around his head. His chest hurt, and then rage coursed through him. Link was just a kid, he didn't deserve this.

"Go warn the others," Alec whispered to Max.

"Alec-"

"Go," Alec ordered.

"Don't do anything without me," Max shot back heatedly. Alec didn't say anything so Max pushed him, "I meant it Alec. Don't do anything without me."

"Just go tell the others," Alec said.

Max glared at him a moment longer, but then quickly kissed him before she took off towards Command. Alec watched her go until she made it inside. He wanted to make sure they didn't see her before he went after them.

He was definitely going after them. He didn't care what Max said, he couldn't let them get away with this. But before he could go, he had to make sure.

As soon as the SUVs were out of sight, he ran over to where Link was. His eyes were still open; he was staring into nothingness with a bullet through his forehead. Alec dropped down to his knees next to Link.

"I'm sorry, Link," Alec whispered. He carefully maneuvered the rifle from under Link and promised, "I'm gonna get 'em, and then I'll be back…"

He took a steadying breath before he forced himself to stand up again. He would find who did this and he would kill them.

He sprinted after the SUVs. He wasn't paying attention and he was running full force so he didn't even know what happened when he slammed into someone else and crashed into the ground. He groaned and pushed himself up again and turned to see who he had run into.

"Dude, watch where you're going," Pete grumbled.

"Sorry," Alec said offhandedly. He really didn't care; he had one goal in mind and he wouldn't stop until it was done.

He didn't waste time to see if Pete was ok or not, he just took off running again.

He found the SUVs a couple blocks away. He didn't know what they were looking for, but it didn't matter. They were still driving, but he was about to put an end to whatever their plan was. He brought Link's rifle up, lined up his shot, and fired.

The back right tire blew and the SUV came to a stop. Alec slowly walked forward; he had the rifle ready to shoot for whoever decided to walk out. He felt calm. He was ready to get this fight started.

The passenger door of the first SUV finally opened and a man in a suit stepped out. Ames White turned towards him and smirked, "494, it's been a while."

* * *

Max knew Alec wouldn't wait for her, but she had to get the word out. She ran into Command and just prayed that Sam or Dean might be in here. Who she found was definitely not who she was hoping for.

Rufus, Bobby, and Mole all turned at the same time to look at her and she groaned. But beggars couldn't be choosers and she needed to get back to Alec.

"Whoa Princess, where's the fire?" Mole asked.

"Link's dead," Max blurted out. The three men all looked at her in shock, but none of them said anything. "Alec's gone after them without backup. He's going to get himself killed."

"Not if we can help it," Bobby stated, heading for the door.

"Bobby, hold up a sec," Rufus interrupted. "We need some more information before we go stormin' out there, guns blazin'."

"That's my boy out there, and I'll be damned if we let him take this on by himself," Bobby growled.

"Easy Papa Bear, we ain't leavin' him," Mole said. "We're just makin' sure we don't get ourselves killed in the process."

"How many are there?" Rufus asked her.

"Four SUVs," Max replied. "I'm not sure how many are in each."

"Where were they headed?" Mole asked.

"I don't know," Max admitted. "I ran here right after we saw them come in."

"Alright, let's gear up," Mole said. "We have some weapons in the closet and-"

Mole stopped as the lights suddenly went out. Max thought it could be because of the storm, but she had a weird feeling about this. They all turned at the same time as the door was suddenly being opened again.

"Alec?" Max said in confusion. He shook his head to get the rain off of his face and he looked around at all of them. "I thought…"

"I decided to be smart and wait for backup before I took off after them. Sam and Dean would kill me if I went off like that again," Alec said. "So, you guys ready or what?"

They all just stood there in shock; something didn't feel right. She was relieved to see him, but it was weird that he'd decided to wait for backup. She didn't think he would do that considering what had happened to Link. He wasn't thinking straight right now and backup would be the last thing on his mind.

She looked him over, but then frowned, "Alec…where's Dean's jacket?" She knew he'd been wearing Dean's jacket because she'd thought he was Dean when he'd come into her house. But he was standing here now without it.

Alec looked down at himself, and then sighed, "Shit. I knew I forgot something." He looked up at them again, and Max took a step back at the look in his eyes. He looked scary right now and she didn't like it. "I knew it wouldn't last long, but oh well…"

"Alec, what's going on?" Max asked.

"Max, that's not Alec," Bobby said, also taking a step back.

Max looked back to Alec and he smiled at her. "He's not wrong."

* * *

Dean looked through his bag to find one of his other jackets. He needed to find Sam and get this whole demon situation figured out. But he needed a jacket since it was pouring and he actually would get sick because of it unlike Alec.

"Hey, what're you doing?"

Dean stood up in surprise, but then groaned. Harper was standing in the doorway, and usually he'd be happy to see her, but since she was here that meant Tera was here too.

And right on cue, Tera rounded the corner and smirked at him.

Dean held up his finger to stop them and said, "No. Not right now. I can't deal with her right now."

Harper frowned, "What? Why?"

"Sam and I were enjoying a passionate kiss when Alec interrupted us," Tera said.

Harper turned on Tera, "Are you kidding me?! What's wrong with you?!"

"I'm a demon and I like him," Tera stated. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"You're a demon," Dean spat.

Tera rolled her eyes, "No shit. But does that mean demons can't fall in love?"

"Not with my brother they can't," Dean muttered, walking past them and into the living room. Coat or no coat, he had to get out of there before he started throwing punches again.

"Dean, wait," Harper called after him.

He ignored her and kept walking. He opened the front door to leave, but stopped when he saw Stella standing in his way.

"Hey Stella…" Dean said slowly, confused. "What're you-"

She hit him hard in the chest causing him to fly back and hit the far wall hard. He fell to the ground in a heap and tried to force himself to stay conscious, but he'd hit the back of his head against the wall and he was quickly losing focus.

He saw Stella walk further inside before he lost consciousness.

* * *

Sam ran his hand down his face. He was hiding from his brothers, but he didn't think it would last long. Dean would find him, and then they'd start fighting again. He didn't want to be ordered around. Dad had always ordered him and Dean around and he'd hated it.

"Sam, you can't hide out here forever," Ellen said, walking past him.

"It'd probably be better if you just went and found Dean and Alec before they found you," Jo said. "Get it over with. Rip off the Band-Aid."

Sam ignored them both. He could hide here until Dean found him. He knew it would be Dean who would find him. Alec was too mad right now to even look at him, but Dean would want to try to work things out. He would want to try to convince him to stay away from Tera and smooth things over between him and Alec. Dean had always been the peacekeeper in the family and he always would be.

"Where's Rufus and Garth?" Sam asked to try and change the subject.

"Rufus went somewhere with Bobby and Garth is out doing whatever it is that he does," Jo muttered.

Sam sighed and tried to come up with a plan. He needed a good argument to back up what he'd done. He knew it was wrong to be with a demon, but he couldn't help how he felt.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Ellen and Jo looked to him to answer it. He stood up and answered the door, but frowned when he saw Panda standing on the other side. "Hey man, what's up?"

"Wow," Panda said. "I actually can't believe you're in this house."

"Um…ok," Sam replied, confused. "Come on in?"

Panda smiled and walked inside, "Don't mind if I do."

"Do you need something?" Sam asked. "Or did you forget something in the car?" He really couldn't come up with any reason why Panda would come for a visit. They weren't exactly friends since he really didn't know the transgenic all that well.

"No, just visiting," Panda said. Panda walked over to the armchair and lounged across it. "It was really just a shot in the dark seeing if you were here, but you might be a little too predictable."

Sam shot a look over to Ellen and Jo, but they looked just as confused as he felt.

Panda sighed and stood up again. Sam jumped a little as Panda blurred and was suddenly standing in front of him. "If I'd known transgenics existed before today, I would've taken on their form a long time ago," Panda told him. "Their strength, speed, agility…they're perfect."

"You're a shapeshifter," Sam guessed. "Did you kill him?"

Panda smiled, "Yes. I couldn't have him waking up and ruining the hunt. I thought you were going to be a little more suspicious about the whole thing, but luckily for me, you didn't question it at all."

"What do you want?" Sam growled.

"I want you dead," Panda stated. "You and every hunter like you."

* * *

"494, it's been a while."

Alec didn't waste any time with pleasantries. He fired before White could say anything else. White tried to move out of the way, but he still took the bullet in his shoulder. White glared at him, and Alec knew he wouldn't stop until he was dead. But he glared back, silently telling him to bring it on.

White sprinted towards him and he got ready to fire again. He pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. Of course the gun would jam. It didn't matter though; as soon as White was within reach, he flipped the gun and slammed the butt of it into White's face.

White fell back with blood gushing from his nose. Alec smiled and savored this moment; he knew he was outnumbered and it would be tough to win in a fight against White, but he'd gotten in two good hits right off the bat and it felt good.

White pushed himself back up. He was smiling, but Alec didn't care. "He was just a kid," Alec growled.

"He was an abomination. A freak. Just like you," White replied.

White made a hand motion and two men came out of nowhere and roughly grabbed his arms. White wiped off some of the blood streaming down his face before he pulled back his arm and punch him hard in the side.

Alec grunted and tried to curl forward, but the men wouldn't let him.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you, and all of the freaks like you," White said. He hit him hard again in the same spot, and Alec tried not to gasp in pain as one of his ribs broke.

"How did you find us?" Alec asked. He wanted to keep White focused on him so he couldn't go on his killing spree.

White smiled and circled around him. "It's actually thanks to you that I found this place. There was an incident at a bar that we caught wind of, and once we…talked…to the bartender, he told us which direction you left and we followed that until we found this place."

"Did you kill him?" Alec asked in panic. Hank had helped him and if he was dead, then it was his fault.

White's smile widened and Alec knew that Hank was dead. White hit him again and he welcomed the pain. He deserved this. Hank was dead because of him and now Link was too. Blood exploded in his mouth suddenly and his head snapped to the side with the next hit.

He thought for just a moment about letting White kill him, but he knew he couldn't do that. Right now, he was the only thing between White and everyone else and he couldn't let White kill anyone else. Besides, he was pretty sure Sam and Dean would find a way to bring him back if he died just so they could tear him a new one.

He spit the blood out at White when he got close to him again and he smirked when White looked at him in disgust. White walked over to one of his men and grabbed their gun before coming back to him. This was it. White was going to shoot him and this would be the end. It didn't matter if he wanted to fight or not, this was it.

He took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. He would go out with dignity; he wouldn't give White the satisfaction.

White raised the gun and aimed right at his head. He didn't even blink. He was glad that Dean let him where his jacket; it felt like his brother was with him right now. He wouldn't actually die alone. He just wished he could've made up with Sam before he died.

A gun went off and his heart stopped. But then more gunfire erupted around him and White took off without ever pulling the trigger. The two men holding him were both shot and he was released. He was grabbed again almost instantly and drug to the relative safety of the closest house.

He was surprised to see that Bear and Rocky were on either side of him, pulling him with them. "You are an idiot," Bear stated.

"I thought he was badass," Rocky argued. "He got two good hits in on White before things started goin' downhill."

"He should have gone in with backup," Bear grumbled.

"Alright, lemme go," Alec said. He was still in shock that he wasn't actually dead. He was pretty sure that his heart had stopped for a whole minute before it started beating again. They finally stopped and released him, but his legs were wobbly and he nearly collapsed as soon as they let go.

"Whoa, easy there," Rocky said, catching him. "It's possible that he might think he's dead," Rocky said to Bear.

"Garth was cutting it a bit close on giving the signal," Bear grumbled.

"He came through," Rocky reassured. "Alec's still alive and now everything'll be fine." Rocky suddenly patted his chest and said, "Dude, you're still alive, alright? I know it was close, but you gotta snap out of it. White's still on the loose and we've got a lot to do." Alec took in a shuddering breath and Rocky smiled, "That's it. Breathing helps."

"Rocky, that is not helping," Bear snapped.

"What do you wanna do then? I don't see you doin' anything to snap him out of this," Rocky said.

"I told you it was too close. Give him a moment to accept that he is still alive," Bear said, softer this time.

Breathing was easier now. He was still alive and he needed to go after White because he was still alive too and he was going to hurt people.

"I'm alright," Alec finally said. "I'm alright…I just…"

"It is ok, Alec," Bear reassured.

"That was close," Alec said, pulling himself back together.

"That was close," Rocky agreed. "But Garth had everything under control."

"Garth?"

"Yeah, he saw the cars roll through and thought there was a problem and got as many people together that he could to take them on," Rocky said.

"Did you see where White went?" Alec asked.

"Building across the street," Rocky answered. "And we're goin' after him as soon as you're ready. He's not gettin' out of here alive."

Alec nodded and took a few deep breaths before he said, "Alright, I'm ready."

* * *

"Who are you?" Max asked, keeping fake Alec in front of her. The look on his face sent a chill down her spine.

"I think you mean, what am I," Fake Alec corrected with a smirk.

"Shapeshifter," Bobby said. "What did you do with the real Alec?"

"He's…gone," Alec said casually.

Max's heart skipped a beat. She felt like attacking fake Alec, but before she could even figure out what to do Bobby, Rufus, and Mole charged forward.

Alec hit Bobby back and Max jumped into motion. She knew Alec was excellent at fighting, but he was holding them all off without breaking a sweat. Bobby and Rufus both pulled knives out and even though Max knew this wasn't the real Alec, she still felt a moment of panic.

Alec kicked Rufus across the room, flipped over Bobby and shoved him towards the wall, and punched Mole across his face forcing him to stumble back. Max took over and used everything she knew to keep Alec distracted.

He was good. He had years of training on her and he wasn't holding back. The real Alec must have been holding back the other times they had fought. She finally managed to kick him back and he fell to the ground near Rufus.

The older hunter grabbed him and held his knife against his throat. Alec twisted Rufus's arm and forced him to drop the knife. He grabbed it and threw it at her, and she barely managed to move out of the way in time. The knife still sliced a cut over her eye and blood immediately started to drip down. But that was better than the alternative.

Alec leapt up and came at her again, but Mole tackled him before he could get far. Mole held him down and Bobby ran forward with his knife in hand. He hesitated though, and looked at Alec like he was the real Alec.

"It ain't him, Bobby," Rufus said from the floor. "He's a shifter that looks like your boy."

"Did you kill the real Alec?" Bobby asked, taking a step closer.

"Just kill me," Alec sneered. "Then you can find out if I killed 'your boy' or not."

"Do it," Max said.

Bobby didn't waste any more time. He knelt down next to Alec and stabbed him in the heart. Fake Alec gasped and it hurt to watch him die. Mole carefully lowered him the rest of the way down once he was gone and slowly got up. He walked over to her and actually wrapped her up in a hug.

"We need to split up and find the real Alec to make sure the kid's ok," Rufus said after a moment.

Bobby and Mole nodded in agreement. Max took a deep breath, and then went outside to search for Alec.

* * *

"Dean, we need to talk about this," Harper said, following after him into the living room. Her eyes widened though when she saw two Deans. One was passed out on the floor while the other stretched. The one that was conscious looked over at her and smiled.

"Harper, right?" Dean asked.

"Tera!" Harper called out, ignoring Dean for now.

Tera ran into the room and looked around, "Great, now there's two of them!"

"Tera, take on that Dean while I check on the real one," Harper said under her breath.

"With pleasure," Tera said with a smile.

"Try not to get hit," Harper hissed.

Tera rolled her eyes and stalked over to Dean. Harper sighed, but focused on the real Dean who was still passed out. She knelt down next to him and shook his shoulder.

"Dean, c'mon, time to come back now," Harper said. "There's another one of you in here who I'm pretty sure is a shapeshifter…"

Dean groaned, but Harper gasped in pain and shot a look over to Tera. The shapeshifter had kicked her in the side, but she was already fighting again.

"Tera's kicking your ass," Harper tried to tease. She would do whatever it took to get Dean back with her again.

Dean startled suddenly and tried to sit up, but immediately fell back again. He looked at her in confusion and said, "Harper?"

"Are you good?" Harper asked. Obviously he wasn't great, but she was trying to speed him up. She cried out in surprise pain as Tera got hit again. She glared at the demon before she looked back to Dean. "Take your time, get your bearings again, and then you can join the fight, ok? But I've gotta jump in before Tera starts enjoying this too much."

Dean blinked a few times at her, but she needed to go. She patted his shoulder before she jumped up and joined the fight.

* * *

He was really out of it. His head was pounding, Harper was talking to him, and Tera was fighting his double. That wasn't right. Alec was his clone, but this was his actually double. Same age, same fighting style, same everything.

Harper left him suddenly and joined the fight against him. He didn't know where his double had come from, and it didn't make sense that Tera and Harper were fighting him. And where did Stella go?

"Shit," Dean breathed out, suddenly putting the pieces together. Stella was a shapeshifter and had shifted into him. This was the second time one of those damn things had stolen his face and it really pissed him off.

He pushed himself up, but then grunted and crashed back down again as Harper was thrown into him.

"Sorry," Harper muttered, getting back up. She ran back into the fight, leaving him to get his bearings again.

It took him a minute to focus again, but he finally managed it and got to his feet. The world tipped, but he pushed through it. He looked to where Harper and Tera were fighting his shifter look alike and watched for his chance to jump in.

He was surprised to find that the two of them really worked well together. They worked as a team and Tera actually tried to protect Harper when she could. He didn't want to think that he was wrong about the demon, but maybe he could be a little easier on Sam. He still wasn't going to allow their romance thing to happen, but maybe he could admit that the demon had changed a little since they had met her.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when Tera was suddenly pushed through one of their walls. Harper cried out in pain and fell to her knees.

He knew it was his turn in the fight and he didn't waste any time taking over. The shifter knew his moves and used them against him. But it didn't know everything. The shifter hadn't been him long enough to download everything and he had the advantage of frequently fighting with Alec. He'd learned some new moves from his little brother and he was definitely using them now.

Even though he could get in a few surprise hits, the shifter was still stronger than him. The shifter got ahold of him, and then they were suddenly wrestling on the floor of the kitchen.

"Dean!" Tera called out, tossing a knife to land beside him.

Dean reached out and grabbed the knife and plunged it into the shifter's chest. But nothing happened.

"Was that a silver knife?" Dean ground out, trying to keep the shifter from getting him into a choke hold.

"How should I know?!" Tera replied. "I try to help, but apparently I have to know the difference between a silver knife and a regular knife. This is ridiculous…"

Dean grunted as the shifter got its arm around his neck. He tried to pull the arm off of him, but he didn't have enough oxygen to do much of anything.

Tera went over to Harper and searched her for her knives. Dean's vision was blurring, but Tera finally found one and held it up in victory. She showed it to him from across the room and asked, "Is this good enough?"

Dean barely nodded as he began to lose consciousness. He could just barely see Tera walk over to him, and then he was suddenly released. He doubled over and coughed to try to get air back into his lungs. But he turned his head to see what was happening.

Tera and the shifter were fighting again, except this time Tera had the advantage. She backed the shifter into the corner and held the knife against its throat. He expected her to get it over with, but she looked back at him and said, "You really think this will work?"

"Just do it," Dean forced out.

Tera rolled her eyes, but pulled out the first knife before she stabbed the shifter in the chest with the second knife. Dean relaxed slightly once his double was dead and he took a moment to try and get himself back together.

"Y'know, I hate to say this considering our fragile relationship, but that felt pretty good," Tera said, walking past him.

Dean shook his head and forced himself to stay quiet. He didn't want to waste his breath arguing with the demon. Tera didn't say anything else either and instead walked over to Harper to help her up.

"Your fighting skills haven't improved at all," Harper said breathlessly.

"I killed the monster and you didn't die so stop complaining," Tera replied. She started to lead Harper out of the house, but then she looked back at him and asked, "Are you coming with us or what?"

"I'll catch up," Dean said. He was still dizzy and he didn't want to slow them down.

"Whatever," Tera muttered, helping Harper out of the house.

He waited until they were gone before he staggered towards the bathroom. He wanted to splash some water in his face and pull himself together a little more before he went looking for Sam and Alec. He wanted to make sure this was the only shifter and that his brothers were both ok.

* * *

Sam wanted to attack and he was ready to, but then Panda stopped him by saying, "You really think I came here alone?"

Sam's breath caught in his chest. If there was another shifter then everyone here was in danger. His brothers were in danger.

Panda smiled, "Do what I say and I won't let my friends hurt Alec."

Rage filled him and he acted without even thinking. He ran at Panda and slammed him against the wall. "You hurt my brother and I'll kill you," Sam threatened.

Panda rolled his eyes, "What part of what I just said did you not understand?"

"Let him go," Sam snarled, ignoring what Panda said. "He's not part of this. He wasn't there and he didn't kill your bowling alley friend."

"But you did," Panda pointed out. "And you need to pay for that."

"Let Alec go," Sam demanded.

"Sam," Jo said to try and get his attention, but he ignored her. His focus was on protecting his brother.

"Alec's going to die, and then Dean, and then everyone else here before we finally kill you," Panda said.

"Oh yeah? And what if I kill you first," Sam asked.

"It won't matter. They already have their orders," Panda replied.

"Sam!" Ellen shouted. Sam finally tore his gaze away from Panda to look at Ellen. "Something's on fire outside. Let's tie Panda up, force him to take us to Alec, and help with whatever is goin' on out there."

"Besides, he's lying," Jo added. "There's no way he has enough shifters to take on all of us. He probably doesn't even have Alec."

"Jo's right," Ellen urged. "He probably just knew Alec's name because the real Panda knew Alec and he knew you and Alec are brothers."

Sam took a deep breath and hoped that they were right. He didn't really want to chance it though; he couldn't lose his little brother.

"Maybe they're right," Panda said. "Maybe I don't have Alec and I only have two other shifters on my side and we couldn't possibly take you all down. Or maybe Alec's already dead and Dean's next. Or maybe I'm stalling just so I can trap you all and kill you."

Sam frowned, but then noticed the smell of smoke. He shot a glance over to the door and saw smoke start to snake inside.

Panda suddenly hit his hands away and shoved him to the side. The shifter went after Ellen and Jo, but they were already moving in opposite directions. Panda growled and turned back to him instead. He met Panda halfway and threw a quick jab at his face.

Panda just smiled and followed up with three hard hits to his side. He managed to push Panda back, and then kicked out the shifter's knee when he came at him again.

Panda collapsed, but Sam grabbed him and slammed his fist into his face repeatedly. He stopped when Panda reached out towards him and he growled, "Where's Alec?"

Panda gave him a bloody smile and said, "Don't know, don't care."

"You don't have him," Sam said, just to make sure.

"Saw him run towards a bunch of SUVs before I headed over here. Someone else is here and he went to go check it out," Panda said. "Whoever's in the SUVs probably killed him though. They killed the kid at the gate and they probably killed him too."

"What about the other shifters with you?" Sam asked. "Where are they?"

"We spread out looking for you and Dean," Panda replied.

"Why are you answering all of a sudden?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"I already told you. I'm stalling," Panda said.

"Ellen!" Sam called out.

"Sam, we have a problem," Ellen yelled from the kitchen. "It's our house that's on fire! We're trapped!"

"See," Panda said.

Sam got his knife out of his boot and stabbed Panda before the shifter even realized what he was doing. He released the dead shifter and got up to help find a way out of there. He was not going to burn to death. He was getting out of here, and then he was going to find his brothers to make sure they were ok.

* * *

The remainder of White's men were under cover, taking shots at any transgenic they could. To get to the building that White was in, Alec, Rocky, and Bear were going to have to navigate carefully to not get caught up in the crossfire.

"Just cover me and I'll go by myself," Alec urged.

"Not a chance," Rocky instantly shot down.

"What about Conner?" Alec asked, trying to find a way to keep his friends safe.

"Just shut up and get a move on," Rocky said.

"Have you been spending time with Max?" Alec asked, cocking his head to the side. "Because you sound just like her."

Rocky glared at him, but Bear was giving him an amused smile. Alec smiled too; he still wasn't expecting to make it through this, but at least he could make Bear smile.

"Obviously you're going after White," Rocky said to get him back on track. "I'll go in to back you up and Bear will stay on the ground to keep everyone else out."

Alec looked to Bear to see if she would argue, but she just nodded to him, "Well, at least we're all in agreement…"

He took a deep breath and slowly let it back out. He looked to Bear and Rocky one more time to make sure they were ready before he took off. Bullets immediately started flying, but so far luck was still on his side. He just hoped it would last.

Bear took cover and shot at any of White's men that tried to get too close as he and Rocky slipped inside. "Of course it had to be the biggest building in the valley," Alec muttered.

"Four stories isn't that big," Rocky argued.

"It is when you're lookin' for one guy…" Alec replied.

"Then I guess we better get started," Rocky said with a smirk.

Alec rolled his eyes and started searching the bottom floor of the house. Rocky stayed close behind him to give him backup, but the bottom floor was clear and they slowly made their way up the stairs.

"How much you wanna bet he's on the fourth floor," Alec whispered to Rocky.

"20 bucks he's on the third," Rocky replied.

"You're on."

They found a few of White's men on the way, but it was surprisingly easy to take them down quickly and quietly. Alec wasn't sure if their luck continued or ended when they finally found White. Either way, if they made it through this then he was getting 20 bucks from Rocky.

They could hear White talking to one of his men behind a closed door. Rocky raised his eyebrows, silently asking him if they were going in. Alec smirked back and kicked in the door.

White didn't bother with small talk this time, which was fine with him. He wanted to get this over with, and in all honesty it was really annoying to hear White ramble on about how they should all be destroyed.

Rocky took on White's two men as Alec went after White. He used all of his training, every trick he'd ever leaned, and even used some of the moves that Max had used against him. He was going to do whatever it took to take White out.

But White had the advantage in this fight. Even though he'd taken a bullet to the shoulder, it didn't matter; he didn't feel pain and wouldn't stop until he was dead. Alec was tough, but he could feel pain and White hit just as hard as a transgenic. Not only all of that, but he still had bruises from the fight in the bar and White had already broken a couple of his ribs.

Alec blocked and punched and kicked, but he was slowing down. Rocky was still in the middle of his own fight and wouldn't be able to help him. He still got in some good hits, but it didn't matter. He couldn't beat someone who would never stop. He shot the man, broke his nose, and managed to break some ribs, but nothing would slow him down.

White suddenly grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. His head hit the wall and he instantly saw stars. He couldn't do anything; it was like his brain was disconnected from the rest of his body. He knew he needed to move to stop this, but he couldn't.

White practically threw him across the room, and his eyes widened when he crashed through the window. His stomach dropped as he was suddenly falling, and then a second later he hit the ground hard.

He blacked out for at least a minute, but then he slowly started to come around again. He was in the middle of the street; he could hear muffled gunfire around him, but he was still pretty out of it. He'd landed mostly on his left side, but he didn't know the extent of the damage and he wouldn't know until he moved. But he wouldn't be able to move for another few minutes at least.

He cried out in pain as he was suddenly pulled to his feet and slammed against the wall of the house. Alec tried to focus, but he didn't really want to see White sneering at him.

"You are a hard one to kill, 494," White said. "I've waited a long time for this…"

"Couldn't you kill me without the talking?" Alec forced out.

"I'm going to savor this moment," White said, ignoring him.

"So am I," Bear said, appearing beside White with her gun against his head. Alec smiled at the look of shock that crossed White's face right as Bear pulled the trigger.

White's legs collapsed as his life ended. Alec didn't even care that he collapsed too since White had been the only thing keeping him up. He cried out again as he felt his bones grind together. He had a broken collar bone for sure and his side was killing him. He didn't think he'd be able to stand for very long if he could even get up, but none of it mattered. All that mattered was that White was finally dead.

He yelled in surprise pain as he was suddenly being pulled somewhere else.

"I am sorry Alec, but the danger is not over yet," Bear said. "Most of White's men are dead, but it only takes one bullet."

She finally stopped and eased him back down. She instantly started to look him over, but he didn't care at the moment.

"Bear," Alec breathed out to stop her. She looked up at him to see what he needed, but he just smiled, and then said, "I'd kiss you right now if everything didn't hurt."

Bear smiled too and teased, "And I would accept that kiss if your lip was not split and if I was sure you would not fall in love with me if you kissed me."

"And she's already got a boy toy," Rocky said, running up to them. "Me. So quit tryin' to sweet talk my woman."

"When did this happen?" Alec asked, looking between Bear and Rocky.

"Shortly after we got here. I am irresistible you know," Rocky said.

"I would say more like determined," Bear said. "But it was a little cute."

Rocky gave him a big smile and he shook his head in amusement. He still couldn't believe that White was dead; he'd been pretty convinced that he was going to be the one that died, but miraculously he was still alive.

"How bad is it?" Rocky asked him after a moment.

"Might need to make a trip to the hospital," Alec replied. "I can feel my bones grinding together, which is never a good sign."

"Alright, time to getcha to Dean," Rocky said, reaching out to help him up.

"Probably a good idea…" Alec muttered.

He groaned as Rocky hauled him to his feet. Everything hurt, but his left side was the worst. Every step shot pain through him, but as soon as he got to Dean everything would be fine. Dean was going to take him to the hospital for sure, but he actually wouldn't argue this time. Feeling his bones grinding was not a good feeling and he was pretty sure he needed surgery to fix his collar bone.

"Alec?"

Rocky and Bear stopped their slow progress as Max suddenly ran out of a house. She had blood running down her face, but she looked so relieved to see him.

"What happened?" Alec asked with a frown. Max didn't answer; instead she ran at him and threw her arms around him as soon as she was close enough. Alec grunted in pain, but wrapped his right arm around her. "Are you ok? What happened?" Alec breathed out.

"It's complicated…" Max hedged. "But are you ok? You look terrible."

"Umm, well, White's dead so that's a win," Alec said. "Bear killed him."

"It was only possible because Alec was thrown out of a window," Bear said when Max just looked at them in shock.

"You were thrown out a window?" Max asked, concerned.

"We were going to find Dean," Alec said instead of answering.

Max sighed, but she looked to Rocky and Bear and said, "Guys, I think I can take it from here."

Rocky nodded and said to him, "We'll catch up with you later."

Alec nodded too and leaned just a little more against Max. She started walking with him again, but she made sure to keep it slow.

"I should warn you," Max said after they'd walked a few steps. "Bobby, Rufus, and Mole are looking for you."

"Why?" Alec asked.

Max looked away from him, but her arm that she had wrapped around his waist tightened slightly. "I don't want to talk about it," Max whispered. "Just know that they might actually hug you when they see you, ok?"

"Ok…"

He was still confused, but he was in too much pain to ask too many questions. They were almost to his house when Lucky ran up to them.

"Max! There's a fire at the spare house and it looks like it's gonna spread!" Lucky said in a rush.

Max looked between him and Lucky, torn on what she should do. "Go Max," Alec urged as soon as he realized why she couldn't decide. "I can drag myself inside, and then Dean can take it from there."

Max gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she took off with Lucky. He started shaking almost instantly with the effort it took to keep himself standing. He fell against the door though, and managed to get it open.

"Dean?" Alec called out, hoping his brother was still in the house. He didn't know why he thought Dean would be in here because there had been gunfire and he knew Dean would want to go check it out. It was stupid of him to think Dean was here, but at least he could pass out on the sofa and just wait for his brother to find him.

He slowly made his way inside and immediately started for the sofa, but he stopped when he smelled the blood.

"Dean?" Alec whispered. He was afraid that his brother could be hurt and the threat was still here. He couldn't really take on one of White's men right now, but he needed to protect his brother.

He used the furniture and the walls to propel himself further into the house. He wanted to run and search the house as fast as possible, but that wasn't in the cards right then. He would just have to take his time and trust that his brother was ok.

He moved into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. Dean was on the floor with a knife sticking out of his chest. Alec's knees suddenly gave out and he was on the ground next to Dean. The room was spinning, but he pulled himself closer to his brother.

Dean's eyes were closed, blood covered his chest, and he wasn't breathing. Alec's eyes filled with tears as he checked for a pulse, but there wasn't one. His older brother was dead.

Tears streamed down his face as everything just crashed into him. This hurt worse than anything White could have done to him. He didn't know what to do; Dean always knew how to fix things and now he was gone.

"Alec?"

Alec looked up, but then immediately scrambled back when he saw his older brother standing in front of him. He was beat up and bloody, but he was alive. "That's not possible-" Alec breathed out.

"Shit, Alec, that's not me," Other Dean said, crouching down in front of him. Other Dean reached out to him, but he was really freaked out and pulled away from him. He was a clone of Dean, but this was entirely different. His brother was dead on the floor, but he was also standing in front of him.

"Alec, listen to me kiddo," Other Dean said, "That's a shapeshifter and I can prove it, ok?"

Alec just stared back at Other Dean with wide eyes. He didn't know what to say and he wasn't sure how Other Dean could prove that he was the real Dean. But Other Dean reached out and pulled the knife out of Dead Dean's chest. He couldn't help it when his eyes widened further when Dean did that. He didn't know if his real brother was dead or not, but it was still a shock to see a knife being pulled out of his chest.

Other Dean held the knife out to show him and said, "This is a silver knife, right?"

Alec nodded; he knew what Other Dean was trying to do. He wanted him to focus so he asked him an easy question that he would have no problem answering.

"Ok," Dean said, nodding in encouragement. He slowly cut his hand and a thin streak of blood dripped down his hand. "Alright, now watch, ok?"

Other Dean cut Dead Dean's hand, but it burned when the silver knife touched his hand. Alec looked back to Dean; he was pretty sure it was his real brother now, but he couldn't quite shake this one off.

"Alec, it's me," Dean whispered. Dean gave him a sad smile and tried to think. His eyes lit up after a moment and he carefully shrugged out of his over shirt. He winced at the movement, but the pain didn't stop him. "Look," Dean said, pointed to a dark spot on his shirt. "That's where you used me as a Kleenex. You said that I never said you couldn't, remember?"

"Dean?" Alec breathed out.

Dean immediately reached out and pulled him in for a hug. Alec knew for sure now that this was his brother; he couldn't explain it, but he just knew.

"What happened?" Alec asked, keeping his eyes hidden from Dead Dean lying next to them.

"Let's get out of this house and I'll tell ya all about it, ok?" Dean asked him. "And let's find Sam because I wanna make sure he's ok too."

Alec nodded and waited for Dean to get up. His brother reached down to help him up, but he couldn't stop his groan of pain at the movement.

Dean frowned suddenly and asked, "A shapeshifter didn't get to you, did it?"

Alec shook his head no, "White…"

"What?!"

Alec swallowed hard, "He killed Hank and he killed Link and I don't even know who else and it- I- it's my fault."

"Alec, it's not your fault," Dean said, but it didn't matter this time. He knew it was his fault and Dean couldn't change his mind about this. Dean must've known he wasn't going to accept that and changed directions. "What've we got? Some bruises and broken ribs? And something's up with your shoulder and maybe your leg…"

"My collar bone's broken…I probably need to go to the hospital for it," Alec replied softly.

"Alright, we'll take a little trip right after we find Sam, ok?" Dean said.

"A hospital's gonna be hard to get to considering my track record here," Alec warned.

"Don't worry kiddo, everything's gonna be alright," Dean reassured. "Let's go find Sam, ok?"

"Ok," Alec easily agreed.

Dean pulled his good arm over his shoulder and helped him walk. He didn't know where Sam would be, but Dean would know. He just wanted to be with both of his brothers and for this whole thing to be over with. He didn't want to fight with Sam anymore and if that meant he had to accept that his brother liked a demon, then so be it. He'd been too close to death today to leave things how they were.

"Shit," Dean breathed out as they slowly made their way down the street.

"What is it?" Alec asked in confusion. He looked over at Dean, but his older brother was looking away from him.

"Something's on fire…" Dean muttered.

Something didn't feel right. "Dean, leave me here," Alec suddenly said. "You can get there faster if I'm not slowing you down."

Dean's grip on him tightened and he grumbled, "I'm not leavin' you here. We'll just go as fast as we can."

Alec tried to speed up, but everything hurt. He was losing focus and Dean was practically dragging him down the street.

They stopped again and Dean said, "Alright, that's not gonna work…"

"I just need a minute," Alec muttered.

"Ok, we can take a minute," Dean replied, gently ruffling his hair.

"Dean!"

Alec and Dean turned at the same time to see Bobby and Rufus running over to them. The two older hunters looked relieved to see them, but stopped before they got too close.

"Let's see your arms real quick," Rufus said. "We're not playin' this game again."

"We're not shifters," Dean said.

"That's exactly what a shifter would say," Rufus growled.

Dean sighed and held his arm out towards Bobby who cut his arm with a knife. Bobby nodded, and then looked to him. But he couldn't reach out with his free arm.

"Let me see the knife," Dean said, knowing that he couldn't move his arm much. Bobby hesitated, but then finally passed the knife over. "Sorry kiddo," Dean muttered, slicing a small cut into his arm. Dean looked up at Rufus and Bobby again and said, "See, not shifters."

"Thank God," Bobby breathed out, moving towards them again.

Alec's eyes widened when he was the one that Bobby wrapped into a hug instead of Dean. He relaxed slightly though when Bobby's arms encircled him and he closed his eyes at the comfort Bobby was giving him.

"Move over Papa Bear, it's my turn," Rufus grumbled.

Alec had forgotten Max's warning that they would want to hug him when they found him, but he really didn't mind it. Rufus wrapped him up in a hug, and he felt a little better with the fact that people actually seemed to care about him.

"You guys headed over to the fire?" Bobby asked.

Rufus released him, but kept his hand on his back and added, "'Cause that's where we were headed when we ran into you."

Dean nodded, "We were looking for Sam…"

"We'll go with you then," Bobby said.

"We can't go very fast," Dean warned. "I got knocked in the head and Alec had a run in with an old friend…"

"Slow sounds good to us," Bobby said.

Dean started them moving again. He took on more of his weight so they could move a little faster and Bobby stayed on his other side in case he stumbled. He knew somehow that Sam was where the fire was. He didn't know if his brother was in danger or not, but he wanted to get there as quickly as possible to make sure.

There was a crowd of transgenics around the burning house once they got there. Dean scanned the area around them looking for Sam, but Alec could tell he couldn't find him.

"Alec, stay here with Rufus and Bobby. I'll go find him, ok?" Dean asked him. Alec didn't want Dean to go, but he nodded and let Dean pass him off to Bobby's support. "I'll be right back. I promise."

Alec kept his eyes glued to his brother as he made his way through the crowd. Transgenics were trying to put the fire out, but there was still no sign of Sam.

Dean stopped to talk to someone, but then took off towards the house. Alec's eyes widened in fear. He shrugged out of Bobby's support and tried to force his way to the burning building. Bobby and Rufus were both calling after him, but he didn't care. Dean had just gone inside the house and he knew Sam was in there too.

He pushed his way through and ignored the pain when someone jostled into him. He kept his eyes on the door to the house and kept moving. Both of his brothers were in there and he wasn't about to lose his family.

He finally broke through the crowd just as something crashed through the window on the second floor. Alec looked up to see someone maneuver out of the window, but then reached back in and helped someone else out.

A ladder was brought over and Alec could finally see that Ellen was the one who was climbing down. Jo followed after another minute, and then Max. Alec still held his breath as he waited for Sam and Dean.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long. Sam's lanky form finally came through the window closely followed by Dean. Alec started to run over to the ladder to wait for his brothers to come down.

"Sam!" Alec called out as soon as Sam was over halfway down.

Sam looked over at him in relief and ran over to him as soon as he was on the ground. He was wrapped in another hug, and he felt utter relief that his brother was still alive. Dean came over to them once he was on the ground too and it felt right to be with his family again.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	17. Chapter 17

"I need to sit down," Alec finally said. Everyone was trying to figure everything out, but his head was spinning. Sam and Dean were talking to Max and were trying to tell her what they knew. Dean was holding him up again, but he was losing energy fast. "Dean, I need to sit down," Alec said again, louder this time.

"Shit Alec, I'm sorry," Dean said.

"We need to get him to the hospital," Sam forced out, his voice rough from smoke inhalation.

"You too," Dean pointed out.

"We probably all need to be checked out," Sam muttered.

"I'm fine, Sam," Dean grumbled.

"You're not fine…"

Alec was about to pass out. His brothers were arguing about the hospital, but he just wanted to sit down. His eyes fluttered, his knees gave out, and suddenly he couldn't move even if he wanted to.

"Shit," Dean said again, but it was muffled. "Alright Alec, I should've listened. Sam, help me get him to the ground."

Sam's hands joined Dean's as they eased him down. He'd had a rough day and he just wanted to rest.

"Yeah, he's alright…we just need a little bit of space," Sam said to someone else.

"Sam, see if someone will get us some water," Dean said. "Alec, can you hear me kiddo?"

Alec tried to nod, but he didn't know if he actually did or not. Everything hurt. He actually would take some medicine if they had any. The only thing that actually felt kind of good was the rain hitting his face. He hated the rain, but it felt nice and cool against his hot skin. Sam and Dean were trying to block the rain, but it felt good.

"Thanks," Sam said to someone else. "Alec, can we help you sit up so you can get a drink of water?"

Alec did nod this time. He was slowly coming back to awareness, and he was a little embarrassed that he'd passed out.

Sam and Dean helped him up and gave him a small sip of water. "I'm sorry Alec," Dean said. "We should've figured out the hospital thing before anything else."

"Dean, how're we going to take him to a hospital in Seattle? Everyone there hates transgenics and half of Seattle is after him in particular," Sam said.

"We'll figure it out," Dean said. "But he has to go to the hospital."

"I agree that he has to go to the hospital. I just don't see how we're going to get him to a hospital in Seattle," Sam stressed.

"Logan, now's not a good time," Max whispered a little ways away. Alec's ears perked as he tried to pay attention to both conversations going on.

"We can't drive out of Seattle," Dean said. "The trip to the hospital is gonna be bad enough. Rocky told me he went out of a fourth floor window. Every move has to hurt and a long trip in the car isn't gonna help that."

"Running from the cops isn't gonna help that either," Sam argued.

"Can I just talk to them?" Logan asked Max.

"He already told me he needs surgery. That's a hospital trip," Dean stated.

"Just not a Seattle hospital," Sam said.

"About what?" Max asked.

"Going in circles isn't helping him," Dean said.

"We should talk to Logan," Alec interrupted.

"Logan? Really?" Sam asked, surprised.

Alec nodded and looked to Max to signal that Logan should come over there. Logan walked over to them and crouched down to be at their level. "I heard what happened and I know you need a hospital," Logan said. "I have a friend who's a doctor and who helps out without drawing attention."

"Great," Dean said. "Where is he?"

"And does that include surgery?" Sam asked.

"Yes and I'll get you his address," Logan said. "Max has seen him before so she can vouch for him if you're worried. His name's Sam Carr. I'll give him a head's up that you're on your way."

Logan walked away after that to give them some space to talk it over.

"What do you think?" Dean asked him.

Alec sort of shrugged back, "Might be the best option we have right now…"

"And if Max knows him then he can't be too bad, right?" Sam asked.

"If it goes south, we'll just hold the man at gunpoint to get you some help," Dean said. "But we've gotta get a move on."

"You start helping him to the car. I'll get the address from Logan," Sam said, standing up.

Sam and Dean helped him up, but he nearly passed out again at the movement. "I gotcha Alec," Dean reassured, pulling his good arm over his shoulder. "We're gonna get ya some help."

Alec nodded and let Dean help him down the street.

* * *

Dean wasn't sure if he trusted this guy or not, but he didn't have much of a choice. Alec was barely conscious lying on his back on an examination table. They had to cut off his t-shirt since it hurt him too much to move his arm at all. He looked cold, but he'd told them that he was hot so Dean didn't mention it again. Alec looked terrible, but he was alive and that's what mattered.

"Alright," Dr. Carr said, walking back into the room. "Looks like you were right about your collar bone. You are going to need surgery for this and you've got some internal bleeding from the fall that we'll need to fix up."

Alec didn't move or even acknowledge that Dr. Carr had said anything.

"You can do all that, right?" Sam asked.

Dr. Carr nodded and said, "I'm going to have to put you under for this and it's a lengthy procedure."

"We brought some blood he can have," Sam said, holding up a cooler. Max, Rocky, Bear, and a few others had all donated just in case they needed it before they left.

"We're getting the room prepped now…" Dr. Carr said. The doctor seemed slightly uncomfortable since he and Alec weren't speaking to him. Sam was the only one that was replying to anything he said.

Sam passed over the cooler of blood and Dr. Carr gave him a small smile. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Um, thanks," Sam said as Dr. Carr left the room. "Dean, you could try to act like you trust the guy."

"But I don't," Dean said.

Alec smiled a little, and Dean felt slightly better.

"He hasn't given us any reason to not trust him," Sam pointed out.

"Hey, once Alec makes it through this then I'll give the guy a chance," Dean said. "Until then, I'm gonna be a dick."

Sam sighed, but dropped it and asked Alec, "You doin' ok? Do you want anything?"

"Can't eat or drink anything before surgery," Alec muttered.

"Everything's going to be ok," Dean tried to reassure. Alec nodded, but started coughing. He curled in on himself and Dean moved to rub his back. "Y'know, if White wasn't already dead, I'd kill him…" Dean muttered.

"I'm alright," Alec whispered.

Dean took a deep breath and nodded even though he knew Alec wasn't alright.

Dr. Carr came back after a few more minutes. Alec tensed and his breathing became harsh when he heard the doctor's footsteps.

"It's ok," Dean whispered.

"Ready?" Dr. Carr asked.

Alec looked over at him and he nodded in reassurance. "We'll be here when you get back, ok?"

"Ok," Alec replied softly.

He moved over to the gurney and let Dr. Carr take him away. Dean sat down in the empty chair after Alec left, suddenly feeling dizzy again.

"Dean, he's gonna be ok," Sam said.

Dean rubbed his forehead trying to fight off his headache. "He hates hospitals," Dean muttered.

"But this will be over soon, and then he can rest up at the Valley," Sam said.

"Sam, he's not gonna rest at the Valley. He thinks Link's death is his fault," Dean said.

"So we take him on the road," Sam quickly replied. "You always healed faster when we were on the road and he does too."

"There's a lot going on back there…" Dean muttered.

"Dean, I don't know what you want to do," Sam said, aggravated. "I suggest that we stay and you say no. I suggest that we head out and you say no."

Dean motioned for Sam to calm down and said, "Let's just wait and see what he wants to do. Let's get through this first before we decide what to do next."

Sam nodded and settled in to wait. Dean hated waiting, but he hated his brothers being hurt more.

* * *

"How is he?" Sam asked as Dr. Carr brought Alec back in. Dean stood up to help move Alec to the bed in their new room.

Dr. Carr started setting up equipment around Alec as he said, "He's doing ok. He made it through the surgery anyway."

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"Well, I've helped Max before, but their bodies are completely different. He nearly woke up even though I used the strongest stuff we had. I know some about transgenics, but I don't know everything," Dr. Carr replied. "But he's a tough kid. If it's alright with you guys I'm going to stick around for a while to make sure he's really going to be ok."

"Yeah," Sam immediately said. He'd feel better if the doctor stuck around just in case Alec needed something. Dean shot him a death glare, but that was ok. He knew Dean would feel better too if someone was around to help.

"How soon do you think he'll wake up?" Dean asked.

"Impossible to predict," Dr. Carr replied. "With him almost waking up during the surgery he could wake up again at any point. But he's probably worn out so it could still be a while."

"I don't wanna push our luck, but any chance you could check Sam over while we wait?" Dean asked.

Dr. Carr looked to him in surprise, but nodded, "Sure I'll be happy to."

"I'm fine," Sam said. "You should really check Dean over. He said he's been dizzy and that he hit his head pretty hard." Two could play this game.

"Sam was in a burning building," Dean shot back.

Sam gave Dean his bitchface and started to say something else, but Dr. Carr cut him off, "I'd be happy to check you both over."

"Fine, but Sam first," Dean quickly said.

Sam sighed, but someone had to be the adult and as long as Dean agreed to be checked over too then it was ok.

Dr. Carr listened to him breathe and checked his pulse. "Any burns?" Dr. Carr asked him. Sam shook his head no. "As far as I can tell, you could probably benefit from some breathing treatments, but otherwise you seem ok."

"See," Sam said to Dean. His brother rolled his eyes, but moved forward to hold up his end of the bargain.

Dr. Carr checked Dean's head, made him follow his finger, and checked his pupils with a small flashlight.

"What's the diagnosis doc, am I gonna live?" Dean asked sarcastically.

Dr. Carr chuckled, "I do believe you're going to live, but you do have a concussion. I could get a better read if we did a scan."

"You can forget that," Dean said. "No offense, but no way."

"Alright," Dr. Carr said with a smile. "But-"

"I already know the drill," Dean cut off.

"At least take something for the headache," Dr. Carr tried to convince.

"Maybe later," Dean said.

"Ok, but if you change your mind let me know," Dr. Carr said.

Dean nodded and sat back down in his chair. They all sat back and waited for Alec to wake up.

* * *

Alec hurt, but the surgery must have gone ok since he was still alive. He really hated hospitals, but he hated feeling his bones moving against each other more. He could tell his arm was in a sling, but he didn't want to move just in case he caused something to shift.

He groaned as somebody pressed against his side. "Hey Alec, I'm just checking you over," Dr. Carr said.

"He's awake?" Dean asked. He sounded tired.

"Sort of," Dr. Carr replied. "He's trying to wake up anyway."

"Hey kiddo, can you hear me?" Dean asked, gently brushing his hair back. Alec nodded, but couldn't say anything just yet. "Sammy's asleep right now," Dean said to him since he was still trying to fight for consciousness. "We've been taking it in shifts just in case you woke up."

"The surgery must've really taken it out of you," Dr. Carr said. "You've been out for almost three days."

"Whoa…" Alec breathed out. That was a long time.

"Yeah whoa," Dean agreed, and Alec could hear the small smile in his voice. "That's a long time, huh?"

Alec nodded, and then tried to ask, "Everything ok?"

"Yeah Alec, everything's ok," Dean reassured. "Dr. Carr stopped the bleeding and pinned your collar bone back together."

"Cool…"

Dean chuckled, "Yeah, that is pretty cool."

"Max?" Alec asked. He couldn't get more than a few words together at one time, but Dean knew what he was asking.

"She's been here, but there's a lot of cleaning up to do back at the Valley," Dean said. "There were a few injuries, but nothing too major. Link was the only one." A tear slipped down his cheek, but Dean wiped it away. "Alec, I know you think it's your fault, but it's not," Dean whispered.

"White…and Hank…" Alec forced out.

"I know Alec, but you didn't know that was gonna happen," Dean said, running his hand through Alec's hair. "You can't predict what other people are gonna do."

Alec wanted to argue, but he didn't have the energy.

"Here, you want something to drink?" Dean asked him. Alec nodded and took a sip from the cup Dean held for him. "Alright, go back to sleep for a while. You'll have more energy when you wake up again."

Alec nodded and closed his eyes.

* * *

"Yeah, he woke up for a few minutes," Dean said to Max over the phone.

"Finally," Max replied. "Did Dr. Carr say anything?"

"He thinks he's gonna be ok," Dean said. "We'll probably head back over tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Ok good. Because everyone's asking about him and it'd be better for them to visit him here instead of going there…"

"You're probably right…" Dean replied.

"I've gotta go, but keep me updated, ok?" Max asked.

"I will," Dean promised. He hung up and slowly walked back to Alec's room. He wasn't technically supposed to leave Alec's room since he and Alec looked alike and half of Seattle was after Alec, but he had to stretch his legs. He didn't like being cooped up for so long even though he was worried about his brother.

But Alec had been asleep for a long time again and Sam was awake now so he felt ok leaving Alec alone for a few minutes. Besides, he was pretty sure Alec was forcing himself to keep sleeping so he could put off having to figuring things out with Sam.

Dean walked back to Alec's room and wasn't surprised at all to see that he was still asleep.

"Is Max comin' by again?" Sam asked as he sat down.

Dean shook his head no, "She's gonna wait until we go back."

Sam raised his eyebrows at him and he smirked and nodded back, silently telling Sam to go for it. Alec's breathing had changed when Sam had asked about Max so Dean knew he was listening and they had a plan to get him to wake up. "She's willing to wait five days to see him?!" Sam asked, fake surprised.

Alec frowned and he and Sam shared a smile. "Yeah, she wants him to rest and she's got a lot to do back at the Valley," Dean said with a shrug.

"Five days is too long," Alec mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.

"I don't know…you've been out for a long time…" Dean replied.

Alec opened his eyes a crack to glare at him. "I'm alright…" Dean looked over at Sam in disbelief and Sam tried to hide his smile. Alec groaned and used his good arm to slowly push himself up. Dean instantly moved to help him and adjusted his pillows so he was propped up a little.

"How're you feeling?" Sam asked. "Do you need some more painkillers?"

"My side hurts, but I don't think the painkillers would do much," Alec replied honestly. "It's gonna hurt to move, but there's no way I'm stayin' here for five days."

Dean chuckled, "I know. We were really thinking tonight or tomorrow morning if you're up to it."

"Deal," Alec said as fast as he could.

"Like we could keep you here for five days anyway," Dean muttered.

Alec snuggled against his pillows and closed his eyes again. "Wake me up when it's time to go…"

"Oh no," Dean said, gently shaking Alec's good shoulder. "We've got stuff to talk about before we go back."

Alec sighed and opened his eyes again. "If I say everything is fine will you believe me?"

"No," Dean said simply. He looked over at Sam expectantly, but Sam was avoiding his gaze. "Alright, you both know I'm not into the sharing and caring crap, but you two need to talk about this before we go back."

"I don't know what you want me to say," Sam whispered. "Because I'm not sorry I did it…"

Alec huffed, but kept his gaze fixed on the wall. Dean knew he was still pissed about what happened; he'd been relieved to see that Sam was ok, but now he was pissed again. "You do remember that she tried to kill me, right?" Alec asked sarcastically.

"Alec…" Sam said with a sigh.

"No Sam. I thought we were trying to find a way to kill her not make out with her!" Alec moved to get up, but winced and fell back on his pillows again.

Dean put his hand against Alec's good shoulder to keep him down and said, "Ok look, I'm not giving my blessing or anything, but maybe we hold off on trying to find a way to kill her." Alec started to protest, but Dean stopped him, "I know she's a demon, but she helped bring down the shifter and she actually protected Harper so maybe she's not completely bad. I'm not saying that Sam should date her, but I can't tell him what to do."

Sam nodded his thanks and Alec's muscles relaxed slightly beneath his hand.

"I'm sorry Alec," Sam said sincerely. "I should've done things differently…"

Alec hesitated, but then said, "I'm still not happy about it, but I won't freak out and take off again."

Dean patted Alec's shoulder; this was probably the best they would get for now. He was just really happy that their little family would be sticking together still.

There was a soft knock at the door that ended any thought of continuing their conversation. Dr. Carr walked in and smiled at all of them. He held up a small pill bottle and said, "These are the strongest that we have. Use them, ok?"

Alec nodded and reached out to take the bottle. Dean was pretty sure he wouldn't use them, but at least he'd taken them without a fight.

"So, are we good to take him home?" Dean asked.

Dr. Carr nodded, "Just make sure you check his stitches and once he heals, he may need some physical therapy."

Dean nodded and stood up to shake the doctor's hand. "Thanks for everything, Doc, we owe you one."

"It was my pleasure," Dr. Carr replied with a smile before leaving the room.

"So, are we leaving now?" Alec asked once Dr. Carr was gone.

"How about you take another nap before we go," Dean suggested. "There's gonna be a lot goin' on and it's gonna wear you out fast."

Alec nodded and was asleep again in no time. Dean resituated his pillows so he was lying flat again before he sat down.

"How long do you think this time?" Sam asked with a small smile.

"I'm gonna say…six hours," Dean replied.

"I'll go with four," Sam said, settling in to wait. "And it's 50 bucks this time."

"Fine by me. You already owe me 25 from the last one."

* * *

Alec breathed out in relief once he was on the sofa. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little bottle of pills that Dr. Carr had given him. Dean walked over with a cup of water and gave it to him after he tossed back the pill.

"You were right…that wore me out," Alec said to Dean.

"Well, it's a pretty big deal to kill the guy that was after you all," Dean said.

"Bear killed him, which I've said about a million times, but nobody believes me," Alec muttered.

"That's because she told everyone that you killed him," Sam said, walking into the room. "And since no one really saw what happened, they believe her and think you're being modest."

"She is really convincing…" Dean said. "She told me her version of what happened and she even had me goin' for a minute."

"I think it's because it's pretty much what did happen until the end," Sam said.

"Well, she needs to cut it out," Alec said, easing back against the cushions. His whole body ached, and now his head was pounding because of putting on his 'I'm always alright' mask. He was thankful that it was just him and his brothers again. He didn't have to pretend around them. "I think I'm gonna take another nap…"

"Alright kiddo," Dean said, ruffling his hair.

He got more comfortable and closed his eyes. Someone draped a blanket over him after a few minutes and he dozed off. He was still somewhat awake though so he could hear Sam and Dean moving around. He could also pick up on some of their conversations, but they were keeping their voices down and he could only really pick up on it if they were in the same room as him.

"Pay up, Sammy," Dean said, his smile clear in his voice.

Sam grumbled something, and then muttered, "It's not fair…you two practically share a brain…"

"It was just a good guess," Dean gloated.

"I'm not betting with you anymore…"

"You say that now."

They walked out of the room, but he could sort of hear them rustling around. He thought they were probably cleaning up. They'd been at the hospital for a few days; their house was a mess and they needed to shower.

"He actually took one of the pills, Dean, you know he's hurting," Sam whispered, walking back into the room.

"Hey just be glad that he took one. He was hurting bad before this, but at least he'll admit it when it's just us," Dean whispered back.

They walked away again for a while before they came back.

"I think we should go. We've been here for a long time, we should get back on the road," Sam said.

"I don't know Sam…We can't really go on hunts. He'll feel like he's missing out…" Dean replied.

"He doesn't really want to stay here either…"

That was true; he didn't really want to stay here. He felt the weight of Link's death every time he looked around. He wanted to get away from it all; from everyone congratulating him and thanking him. It was too much. He didn't care if he couldn't hunt for a while; he just wanted to go.

"Hey Bobby," Dean greeted. He'd definitely drifted off for a while; he hadn't even heard Bobby come in.

"He doin' ok?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, he's just tired," Dean said.

Bobby breathed out in relief and walked further into the room. "I wish I could've gone with you boys to the hospital…I was-I was worried about him," Bobby admitted.

"He's gonna be ok, Bobby," Dean tried to reassure.

Bobby sat down in one of the chairs and said, "There was a shifter that came into Command. It looked like him…"

"What?" Dean breathed out.

"I had to kill him," Bobby stated.

That's why Bobby and Rufus hugged him earlier. He knew how realistic the shifters were since he'd thought that Dean had been dead on the floor. He wanted to reassure Bobby that he really was ok, but his eyelids felt too heavy.

"He's ok, Bobby," Dean whispered.

"I know…But you know you and Sam are my boys, right?" Bobby asked. Dean didn't answer so Alec assumed he nodded. "Well, Alec's my boy too and it scared me to death to do that."

Alec suddenly felt all warm inside; Bobby thought of him as his boy. He'd been pretty happy to just be accepted, but now he had so much more. He actually felt pretty good now, and fell asleep for real a few minutes later.

* * *

 _More soon..._


	18. Chapter 18

_Alright, this is it for this story! Thank you to everyone who read, followed, favorited, and definitely the reviews! I hope you all liked the story and if you did, be on the lookout for the next one._

* * *

"C'mon Alec, time to get up," Dean said, shaking his good shoulder. Alec ignored him and turned his face towards the sofa cushion. He didn't want to do this, but it looked like Dean wasn't going to let him out of it. "You've been sleepin' too much and Link would want you to be there."

"I don't wanna go…" Alec mumbled feeling like a child. But he didn't care. If he sounded pathetic enough, maybe Dean wouldn't make him go.

"I know," Dean said. But he was really ignoring him because a moment later Dean eased him up to a sitting position. He groaned at the movement; he was stiff from lying in one spot for a long time and his side was on fire. "You good for a second?" Dean asked him, slowly removing his support.

Alec nodded and watched as his brother left the room before coming back with a new cup of water. Dean sat down next to him and held out a pill for him to take. "Go ahead and take this so it'll start workin'. I'll make ya somethin' to eat while you get cleaned up," Dean said. Alec nodded again, and Dean continued, "Let me check your stitches once you're done, ok?"

"Ok," Alec replied. "Where's Sam?"

"He went to help get everything set up," Dean said. "He's kinda burying himself in work at the moment…"

"Do I have to go?" Alec asked, his voice small.

Dean looked torn, but finally said, "Just stand in the back away from everyone else. Or stay with Bobby and Rufus, they won't let anyone talk to you."

Alec swallowed hard and pushed himself up. He heard Dean sigh, but he kept walking to the bathroom. He'd wanted to leave, but then Max had asked Sam and Dean to help with the funeral and they'd agreed. He didn't blame them for agreeing, but he still didn't want to go. But Dean wasn't going to let him stay here by himself.

He closed the door behind him and carefully took off his sling. It took him a while to get his flannel shirt off since he had to undo the buttons with one hand, but he finally got it off. He winced seeing the black, blue, and yellowish bruises covering his sides and his shoulder. He had a line of stitches down his abdomen and another line over his shoulder. He still had bruises along his jaw and cheek, but the swelling had gone down so it wasn't as bad as it had been.

He could tell that he'd lost some weight though, which was probably why Dean kept making food for him. But nothing really tasted good, and he mostly just wanted to sleep. He was trying to heal, but it took a lot of energy to heal and he needed to eat to have energy. Hopefully food would taste good again once they left.

He shook himself to try and focus again. He needed to get a move on before Dean got worried and checked on him. He kept his left arm close to his body as he showered, and he didn't take very long even though the hot water felt good.

"Clothes are outside the door if you need 'em," Dean said through the door.

Dean was worried about him. He always hovered when he was worried even though he tried to hide it. But he wouldn't be Dean if he didn't worry. Alec still wasn't quite used to it, but he found that it was easier to just let Dean hover instead of trying to stop him.

He dried off as best he could with one hand before he cracked open the door and snatched up the clothes. He hated that his left arm was practically useless; it made getting dressed fairly difficult, especially putting on shirts. He didn't bother with t-shirts anymore since it was too hard to get his arm in the sleeve without help. He could manage flannel shirts ok; the buttons took some getting used to, but he was getting better at it.

He didn't actually button the shirt this time though. Dean wanted to check his stitches so it'd be pointless, and he needed a little help getting the sling back on. He felt weak needing help, but he was losing energy and it was ok to ask Dean.

He felt dizzy and lightheaded suddenly and sat down on the edge of the tub. He needed to eat and it needed to be something more substantial than soup. But he didn't want anything.

Link and Hank were dead because of him. So was Rachel. People he cared about or who helped him were dead. He was too dangerous to be around. Sam and Dean could be next if he stuck around and he couldn't handle it if something happened to them. It was making him sick to even think about it.

Alec jumped when Dean knocked and opened the door a crack. He peeked inside, but frowned when he saw him sitting on the edge of the tub. "You ok?" Dean asked softly, walking over to him. He just shrugged back in reply. Dean nodded in understanding and crouched down in front of him. "I'll be quick."

Alec nodded and let Dean check him over. He usually complained about getting too much attention when he was hurt, but he'd miss this. Sam and Dean actually cared about him and looked out for him, but he'd be on his own again soon. He wanted to keep his brothers safe, so that meant he needed to go. He'd tried to leave when they had first found him, but they'd convinced him to stay. He knew he couldn't put it off any longer.

"Hey," Dean said to get his attention. Alec looked up and met his brother's gaze. "You're not thinkin' about leavin' us, are you?"

Alec's eyes widened in surprise, "How did you know?"

"You've got a certain look," Dean said, keeping his focus on his stitches. "It's like you're sad, but you're determined. I figure you think it's safer for me and Sam if you leave. If you remember about a year ago you tried to leave us right after we found you and again after you were possessed you were pretty set on leaving to protect us…I've been on the lookout for another one of your escape attempts since it seems that you can't get it through your thick head that we want you with us."

"It's too dangerous," Alec muttered, trying to change Dean's mind. "Link and Hank died because of me. White's not my only enemy and you guys could get caught up in the crossfire. I won't be able to handle it if you or Sam died."

"And I won't be able to handle it if you leave," Dean said crossly. "You're my little brother and I'm supposed to look out for you. If you leave, I can't do that."

"Dean…"

"I get it, ok? I really do. People have died because of me too and it kills me, but you know how I keep going?" Dean asked him. He shrugged and shook his head no. "I've got you and Sam." Alec ducked his head down, refusing to meet Dean's gaze. Dean sighed, but then said, "Alec, you've gotta stop blaming yourself."

Dean stopped for a second to search his face to see if he was actually getting through to him. "I understand you wanting to leave to protect me and Sam, but that's not how it works. We'll still be in danger if you leave. We're actually safer with you around, if you think about it…"

Alec gave him an unamused look and he chuckled. He sobered again after a moment and said, "Alright, what about this? You've gotten hurt on just about every hunt we've been on. What if me and Sam kicked you out of the family just to try to keep you safe?"

"It's not your fault I got hurt!" Alec immediately protested. "And I don't want to go!" It suddenly hit him what it would be like to not have Sam and Dean; to not have his brothers. He'd be hurt and alone; he could stay at Freak Valley with Max, but it wouldn't be the same. He'd fall back to how he used to be, and then he wouldn't have Max anymore either. He'd have no one, and he actually really liked having a family. He didn't want to leave, and he wouldn't.

Dean's eyebrows rose, silently asking him if he got it yet, and then reassured, "I would never kick you out of the family. I just wanted to show you how ridiculous you taking off to protect us is."

Alec nodded and said, "Alright, I won't leave."

Dean ruffled his hair, making him smile, and said, "Good, 'cause my next plan was knocking you out and tying you up."

Alec chuckled, but immediately stopped at the pain to his ribs. "I probably wouldn't've gotten far anyway. Not like this…"

"Which reminds me," Dean muttered, slowly standing up, "It's time for you to eat somethin'." Alec nodded and let Dean help him get the shirt on and get his sling back in place. Dean got him to his feet and steadied him when he swayed.

"Can we leave after this?" Alec asked as they slowly walked back to the sofa. Dean helped ease him down, and he relaxed against the cushions in relief.

"I've gotta get a few things squared away before we go, but we'll leave tonight," Dean promised. He stood up and went to the kitchen before he came back carrying a plate with a sandwich on it. He crouched down in front of him. "If you eat the whole thing, you don't have to go," Dean bargained.

"Really?" Alec asked softly.

"Yeah really," Dean replied. "I'll send Bobby over to sit with you for a while."

Suddenly, he felt like he needed to go. He owed it to Link to be there. "I'll go," Alec said after a moment. Dean's face fell and he looked to the sandwich. "I'll still try to eat it," Alec said to try and reassure Dean. His brother had done so much for him; the least he could do was try. He was scaring Dean and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Dean gave him a grateful smile and gently ruffled his hair again. He stood up and started to walk into another room before he stopped and looked back. "What d'you say we don't have this conversation again for a while, huh?" Alec ducked his head down and nodded. "Good. 'Casue I want you to stick around, little brother."

He couldn't stop his small smile from forming as warmth flooded through him. Every time he tried to leave to protect his brothers, they always managed to make it impossible for him to follow through.

"Hey Dean?"

"Yeah Alec?"

"Thanks…" _Thanks for being my brother, for getting me to stick around, adopting me, protecting me, showing me what it means to have a family, to be valued and loved, and so much more…_ "Thanks for everything…"

Dean nodded in understanding and said, "No problem, kiddo."

* * *

"How's he doing?" Max asked him once the service was over.

Dean shoveled in some more dirt and tried to forget the fact that he knew who he was burying this time. "He was at the service," Dean muttered. Alec had managed to eat half of the sandwich before he couldn't force down another mouthful. His little brother was depressed, but he didn't know how to help him.

"I saw him standing with Bobby and Rufus in the back," Max said, her eyes focused on the dirt she was dropping on top of their makeshift coffin.

"He thinks this is on him," Dean admitted. "And he's takin' it really hard."

"I was a little surprised to see him," Max said.

Dean nodded. He'd actually almost told Alec that he had to stay on the sofa instead of going. He'd looked terrified when Bobby had come over, but he'd gone with him without saying anything.

"We're leaving tonight," Dean said, his voice quiet. Max looked up at him, so he tried to explain, "He hardly eats anything. Nothing tastes good and he won't start healing until I get him back on the road. At least, I'm hoping that's how this is gonna go…"

Max sighed, "This whole thing was a mess. We lost three on the hunt and one in the attack…"

"I'm sorry Max," Dean said sincerely. He felt terrible about the hunt; he shouldn't have let Sam go in the first place. He knew Sam hadn't been in any condition to hunt, but he hadn't stopped him.

"I just need to figure out how to handle how we're going to hunt and I need to set up a better security system," Max said.

"I think Ellen and Jo are going to stick around for a while to help out…" Dean said. He wasn't sure what Rufus, Bobby, Harper, or Garth were going to do, but he hoped some of them would stay since he, Sam, and Alec were leaving. They'd thought the transgenics should learn to hunt, but now they were leaving before they could teach them all. But he wasn't going to make Alec stay here; in fact, he'd wanted to leave after they'd gotten back from the hospital, but he couldn't say no to helping out with the funeral.

"They told me they were all going to stay," Max told him. "I said they didn't have to, but they want to help."

They worked in silence for a few minutes before Max asked, "What are you guys going to do? Where are you going to go?"

Dean shrugged, "We'll just wander around lookin' for cases. Alec can't hunt for a few weeks, but me and Sam might work on a couple small cases while he's down."

"You know him better than I do…will he ever want to come back here?" Max hesitantly asked.

"It'll be hard, but he'll miss you," Dean replied.

Max nodded and they fell into silence again. They were almost done burying the four they had lost, but he wasn't sure what he was going to do after this. He knew he needed to talk to a lot of people, but he didn't really want to. Maybe he could get Sam to do it.

They finished with the graves and put the tools away before they started walking back to the house. He wanted to check and make sure that Alec made it back, and then he would start making his rounds.

Alec was stretched out on the sofa again and Bobby was sitting in the armchair watching TV. Bobby looked over at them when they walked in, but his gaze immediately went back to Alec to make sure he wouldn't wake up.

Dean looked up in surprise when he heard footsteps walking from one of the bedrooms to the living room. Sam walked in and he looked surprised to see him too.

"What're you doin' here?" Dean asked, confused. He thought Sam would be hiding out in Command or something. Alec and Sam had made up for the most part, but they were still avoiding each other.

"I wanted to check on him," Sam admitted.

Dean chuckled, "Me too."

"You boys gettin' ready to head out?" Bobby asked.

Dean hesitated, "Not yet…"

"Why not? Alec's ready to go," Bobby grumbled.

"Because, I've gotta do a few things before we go," Dean said. "And you're startin' to spoil him."

"Kid deserves to be spoiled for once," Bobby replied. "And I a'int the only one that spoils him." Bobby gave him a pointed look, but he just glared back. So what if he spoiled Alec; he was the oldest so he got to do what he wanted.

Before he could keep arguing with Bobby though, there was a knock on the door. He went to answer it and was surprised to see a group of people standing outside. Rocky, Bear, and Conner were there and so were Rufus, Garth, Harper, Tera, Ellen, and Jo. Gem, holding Eve, Dalton, and Joshua were all standing behind them, and they were all waiting to be let in.

"Hey man," Rocky greeted. "I guess we all figured you guys would be leavin' soon, so we thought we'd drop by."

"Um…give me a second…I gotta get Alec up, and then you guys can come in," Dean said, trying to come up with the best way to do this. "One second…" Dean closed the door and turned back to his family. Bobby had stood up to see what was going on, and he and Sam were looking at him questioningly. "Um, we have some visitors…"

"Who is it?" Sam asked.

"Let me wake Alec up, and then I'll let them in," Dean said.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Bobby asked.

"I won't let them stay long," Dean said, walking over to Alec. "And then once they leave, then we will too."

"How many people is it, Dean?" Sam asked.

"It's a group…" Dean hedged. He sat down next to Alec's hip and shook his good shoulder. "Alec, you gotta wake up for a minute, kiddo."

"What?" Alec asked, confused. His eyes opened a crack, but he immediately closed them again.

"There's some people here if you wanna see them before we go. Or you can go back into one of the rooms and sleep some more," Dean said.

Alec was silent for a moment, but then he said, "Help me up…" Dean gripped Alec's good hand and helped ease him into a sitting position.

"You good?" Dean asked when Alec blinked a few times to get the room to focus.

Alec nodded and said, "Yeah, I just need a minute."

"You don't have to stay out here if you don't want to," Dean gently said.

"I'm good. I just blacked out, but I'm ok now," Alec said. Dean didn't know how, but he knew Alec was telling the truth.

Dean nodded and gently ruffled Alec's hair as he got up. Alec batted his hand away, but Dean was happy to see that he was actually smiling a little. Maybe it would be good for his little brother to be surrounded by company for a little while. It might take his mind off of things and maybe lift his spirits. This could completely backfire and make everything worse, but it might work out.

Dean walked back over to the door and let everyone in.

It was chaotic for a few minutes, but then things started to settle. Alec was immediately surrounded by Rufus, Garth, and Ellen. Bobby stood nearby to make sure it wasn't too much and to keep an eye on him. Sam actually ended up talking to Gem, Dalton, and Joshua. Dean thought he'd try to talk to Tera, but he didn't. Tera and Harper were talking to Rocky, while Bear and Conner stood off to the side.

Dean jumped when Max suddenly came up next to him. "He looks pretty good, huh?" Max asked him.

"Ellen's going to kidnap him…" Dean grumbled.

"I don't blame her," Max said with a smile.

"You sure everyone's gonna be ok? You don't want us to stay?" Dean asked. He still felt guilty for leaving all of this with Max. He shouldn't have brought the transgenics into the supernatural world.

"Dean," Max said. "Everything will be fine. Focus on yourself and your family and try to relax. I can handle everything here and everyone will be fine, so you don't have to worry."

Dean nodded; he still felt bad for all of this, but he wanted to get back on the road. He wanted Alec to be ok and he wanted the three of them to feel like a family again. It was time for them to go. "We'll come back," Dean said softly.

"I know," Max replied. "And we'll still be here when you do."

* * *

Sam was exhausted by the time they finally stopped. Dean claimed he was fine, but Sam could tell that he was tired too. Alec was passed out in the backseat, and he had been for the entire trip. Their goodbye party had really taken it out of their little brother and he definitely needed something better than the backseat to sleep on.

Sam started to get out of the car as soon as Dean parked in front of the motel, but he stopped when he noticed that Dean wasn't moving.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"I'm gonna make a supply run," Dean said. "I'm just dropping you two off."

"Dean," Sam started to protest. If anything, he should be the one to go on the supply run; he didn't think Alec would like being left alone with him.

"Alec needs a real bed and we need some food," Dean said before he could start arguing.

"I can make the run," Sam suggested.

"I'm already driving," Dean said. "Just get Alec up, get us a room, and then I'll be back in a few minutes."

Sam sighed, but said, "Ok." He was trying to get back on his brothers' good sides, but he was still afraid that Alec didn't trust him. This was a good sign though that Dean wanted him to take care of Alec. That gave him a little hope that his older brother at least trusted him still. "Let me get the room, and then I'll come back to get him up," Sam said.

Dean nodded, so he got out of the car and quickly got them a room. He walked slower on the way back, still concerned that this wasn't a great idea. He was surprised to see that Alec was already up when he got there. He rubbed his eyes as Sam opened his door for him.

"Ready?" Sam asked, reaching in to help Alec out of the car if he needed it.

Alec nodded and accepted his help out of the car. Sam steadied him while he adjusted, but then let him walk by himself. Alec glanced back to look for Dean, but then shook his head in amusement when he saw the Impala backing out.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Dean," Alec said, rolling his eyes. "He's doing this on purpose, you know?"

Sam chuckled, "I know. He thinks he's being sneaky."

"Well he's not. We've got him pretty figured out, right?" Alec asked, glancing over to him.

Sam gave Alec a small smile; this was Alec's way of telling him that they were good. "That's right. But we'll just let him think he's being sneaky. It's our job as little brothers to let him think that."

Alec smiled back at him, but then tripped over a piece of concrete that was sticking up. Sam reacted instinctively and reached out to catch him. His arm wrapped around Alec's middle, but he nearly let go when Alec cried out in pain.

"Shit! Alec, I'm so sorry," Sam said in a rush. He pulled Alec's good arm over his shoulders and pulled his little brother to their room. "Alec, can you hear me?" Sam asked once they were inside. Alec's jaw was clenched against the pain, but he did nod, so at least he was still conscious.

Sam got him to sit on the bed, and then asked, "Alec, what hurts? Collar bone or ribs or…I don't know…Shit…it would've been better if I'd just let you fall. I probably caused more pain than if I'd just let you catch yourself…"

"Ribs," Alec breathed out to stop his rambling.

"Ok, lay down," Sam said, easing Alec down to lie flat. "I'm gonna get some ice. I'll be right back."

Sam grabbed the ice bucket from their room before he ran outside to the ice machine. Even when he tried to help, he still messed up. He felt like he just couldn't do the right thing anymore. He shook his head to focus again on what he was doing. Alec was hurting and it was his fault so he needed to hurry up and get back.

Luckily, Alec was in the same spot that he'd left him. He went to the bathroom and grabbed a towel to wrap some of the ice in before he went back to Alec's side. He propped Alec up with some pillows before he set the ice over Alec's injured ribs.

Alec took in a sharp breath, but relaxed again after a moment. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"It's better that you caught me…"

"What?" Sam said, not following what Alec was talking about.

"You said earlier that it would've been better if you'd just let me fall," Alec said. "It's better that you caught me."

"Alec, I caused you more pain this way," Sam said. "I didn't even think about your ribs. And what if I'd messed up your collar bone? We would've had to go back to the hospital and you could've needed surgery again."

"Sam, I'm ok," Alec reassured. "My collar bone is fine and my ribs are just sore. If I'd tried to catch myself, I would've tried to use both hands and that would've definitely messed up my collar bone." Sam still wasn't sure, and Alec must have known that. "Sam, I trust you to have my back."

Sam looked up in surprise; that was big for Alec, especially after what he'd done.

"Are you gonna tell Dean what happened?" Alec asked when the silence started to stretch.

"He'll probably figure it out," Sam said with a small smile.

Alec snuggled against his pillows and mumbled, "He worries too much…"

"With good reason," Sam said. He maneuvered the covers out from under Alec and pulled them over him. He kept the ice against his side still, just in case his ribs were still hurting.

Sam went over to the little TV in the room once he was sure Alec was asleep. He didn't grab any of their things before Dean left, but he didn't think he'd have to wait very long before Dean got back. He thought about taking a nap, but he didn't want to miss it if Alec woke up and needed something.

Dean came back after a while and Sam helped him unload their supplies and grab their gear. As soon as they were done, Dean immediately went to check on Alec while he grabbed the frozen pizza that Dean had got.

"Sam, what happened with his ribs?" Dean asked after a moment.

"They were just hurting," Alec suddenly whispered. "Sammy took care of me…"

Sam smiled at Alec even though his eyes were still closed. His little brother was covering for him.

"Does anything else hurt?" Dean asked.

"No, I'm ok," Alec said.

"You think you might be able to eat something?" Dean asked.

Alec opened his eyes and smirked, "I don't know…Sam's the one cooking…"

"It's just pizza," Sam defended. "I can't mess up pizza."

"I don't know, Sam…" Dean teased. "But I can make you something else if you don't want pizza," Dean told Alec.

"No, I'll try some pizza," Alec said.

Dean smiled and ruffled Alec's hair as he stood up. He got a cup of water before he walked back to Alec.

"So what're we gonna do now?" Alec asked.

"I think we're due for some recovery time," Dean said. It sounded like a suggestion, but Sam knew Dean wasn't going to budge on this one.

"For me, yeah, but you guys could do something if you wanted," Alec said. "You don't have to wait for me."

"We'll see, Alec," Dean said. "For now, I'm cool with a break."

"Me too," Sam chimed in. Alec claimed that he would sit out, but Sam wasn't so sure. He knew Dean too well and he knew Alec was a lot like Dean. Neither of them liked to sit out when there was a hunt.

Alec rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. He also didn't argue about the pizza or the water that Dean kept making him drink. He didn't complain about Dean checking his stitches or asking how much pain he was in. Sam waited until Dean finally passed out on the other bed before he sat down next to Alec.

"What're you doing?" Sam asked suspiciously.

Alec chuckled, but asked, "What d'you mean?"

"You're being way too cooperative. If you're trying to get out of resting, it's not going to work," Sam warned.

Alec smiled, but shook his head. He thought for a moment, and then said, "I'm- I'm not sure how to put it into words…" Sam frowned but let Alec work through it. "Dean talked me out of leaving again," Alec finally said. "I thought what it would be like without you guys, and I didn't like it. I wanna stick around."

Sam smiled, "I want you to stick around too."

Alec got a little more comfortable, but then said, "But don't get used to the cooperation. I'm gonna be a pain in the ass again in no time."

Sam laughed, "Well at least then I'll know you're back to normal."

Alec laughed too and said, "Shut up."

"Both of you shut up," Dean grumbled. "And go to sleep. Resting starts now."

Alec smirked and rolled his eyes. Sam pulled his covers up again as he fell back to sleep. He felt pretty good now that it was just the three of them again. He stretched out on the little sofa, but he couldn't sleep.

"Sam, just get up and move," Dean mumbled. "You won't sleep and he's just gonna wake up in a few hours and not know where he is."

Sam nodded and felt his chest loosen as he stood up and went back to Alec's bed. He carefully scooted his little brother over so he could lie down next to him. This was why he couldn't sleep before; Alec was going to wake up in the middle of the night and if he or Dean weren't there, then he wouldn't know where he was. He'd gotten a little better in the past year, but when he was hurt it was just easier if someone was with him.

"Night Sammy…" Dean slurred, falling asleep again.

"Night Dean."

Sam closed his eyes and relaxed to the sound of both of his brothers' slow, even breaths.

* * *

 _The End._


End file.
